Bright Eyes
by Ange2
Summary: **Complete** V Ardanowski has the chance of a life time, and not even her friends can change her mind. But can true love?
1. Chapter 1 Luke

Bright Eyes Chapter 1 ***Luke***  
  
Every now and then I fall apart- Bonnie Tyler  
  
V Ardanowski looked around Luke's, hoping to find Felicia. She hadn't been good about keeping in touch lately, and when she tried, she could never get a hold of her buddy. But tonight, she needed a friend, someone who would hug her and tell her that things would be ok. She looked around the crowded club, but didn't see Flea at all. She saw Luke at the bar, and approached him with a sultry smile. He looked up at her and let out a low whistle. "Looking good Smokey, what brings you to my part of town. Have you finally reconsidered my offer of you and I having an illicit affair in the back room?"  
  
"If I were going to take any man up on an offer like that, it would be you Luke. And if I were sticking around here, I would certainly take you up on it. Can I get a rain check on that?" She was trying to keep her smile up, but it was difficult. If she couldn't tell Luke Spencer she was leaving, what made her think that she could tell anyone else?  
  
"You're leaving?" A frown creased his craggy face. He had grown to like this spunky young woman, as much as she could annoy him. He knew you didn't often find someone with her grace and hidden style anymore, and certainly not someone who could still blush during harmless flirting. "You've finally decided to give up on blondie and try your luck elsewhere haven't you? I told you anytime you needed a real man to give me a call. I'd be more then obliged to assist you in any way."  
  
"Luke, you're impossible." She said with a blush. He always had this effect on her, but she still enjoyed the teasing banter. "I've told you time and again that I never was looking to get lucky with Jax in anyway, shape or form. We've never been anything but friends. I have found someone though, and I'm going to give this relationship a shot."  
  
"By leaving town? Sounds like you're running away V. But who am I to talk about running way." He said sarcastically, knowing he was the last person who should talk. "I doubt this man is good enough for you, but once again, who am I to say anything. You're an adult, and you're going to do what you want, even if you're leaving your friends behind."  
  
"It's not like that, I never meant to stay this long, or to make a life for myself here. It was a stop in what I thought was going to be a promising career in law enforcement. But then I met Jax, and he needed someone." She said with a sigh. She had thought that he needed her, and perhaps in a way he did. But she couldn't be what he needed her to be anymore.  
  
"Port Chuckles has a way of doing that to a person. It sucks you in, and it makes it near impossible to get away. As much as I will miss seeing those sexy legs walking into this dump, I envy you. You aren't tied here, you can just leave when you want, without looking back." Luke said quietly, a sad tone to his normally boisterous voice. "Just make sure you don't look back. You'll see something or someone who needs you, and you won't go. That's just how it happens."  
  
"I'm not going to look back, I can't, because you're right, I won't be able to leave. Full speed ahead and all of that." She swallowed hard, she was already starting to doubt her decision, maybe this wasn't such a hot idea. What did he know about Simon other then he was head over heals in love with her, and that she wanted, no she needed a change of pace. She might not be leaving for true love, but there was the potential there, to fall in love and live happily ever after. Was that enough though?  
  
"I hope not Smokey, if you do you're a goner. I've left this place, more times then I can count, but look at where I am now. I suppose for someone who has tried it all and done it all, I'm content to spend my later years here. Mostly because of the memories, they make sure I don't slide too far into myself, or into my self-pity. I couldn't leave here now, even if I wanted to, there is too much holding me."  
  
"This town wouldn't be the same without you Luke, and that's why you stay. Who else can keep the people around here on their toes like you can? And without you there is no good music to be found. Maybe you were meant to be here, in this town, to equalize things, and to harass all the pretty young women who come in looking for a bar keep to talk about her problems with."  
  
"If all the young women look like you, I'll gladly take that job up. Unfortunately, I more often then not get old ladies who used to look like that," Luke said, gesturing towards the painting of a young Helena Cassadine, "but now aren't even a shadow of their former selves. You're the only one who comes in here, who gets the blood pumping and who I look forward to seeing." He wasn't going to say he'd miss her, even though he would terribly. He also wouldn't say goodbye, because it hurt too much, every time he said goodbye, knowing that he would probably never see them again. Goodbye was too permanent. "Just come back and visit me when you hit town again, and leave the guy who is taking you away from me. I think I'd probably try and kill him for it."  
  
"You've actually met him, he came to the club one night with Bobbie and Jerry. And don't think that you could hurt him Luke, he's not like you. He's more cerebral, lacking the pure sexual intensity, and any of the muscles you've got. He's a nice guy, who wouldn't know to defend himself to you if you did try. There's something about him that needs to be taken care of. Maybe that's why I need to go. No one here needs me any more, at least not as much as he does."  
  
Luke smiled at her knowing he had lost and she was leaving. He broke open a bottle of his finest bubbly. He knew his young friend preferred it to anything else, and he had been saving it for a special occasion. And a woman like V, well any occasion was special with her, and she deserved a decent send off drink. He handed her a flute and poured his own before proposing a toast. "Venus my love, you deserve nothing but the best from life. Although you have seen fit to find that someplace other then my arms, I wish you well. And I hope that someday the same lucky fate that first brought you into town and into my dump, will bring you back to me." He stopped for a second to collect himself, "I never thought I'd say this, but I'll miss you." He finished quietly, feeling foolish for giving into such emotion.  
  
"I'm going to miss you too Luke," The tears that had been collecting behind her doe brown eyes let loose, and she took a quick sip of her champagne and dropped her head hoping he wouldn't see them. He did, and gently wiped a few of the tears from her cheek. She looked at him from over her champagne flute, a wet half smile lightening her features. "Thanks for everything Luke." She took one last long drink and set her glass down, a bit more composed. "Listen if you see Felicia, will you tell her I'm looking for her? I don't want to leave without saying goodbye."  
  
"You've got it doll." Luke killed off his champagne and forced a smile for her. "Take care of yourself Smokey, and remember to stop by if you're ever in my part of the world."  
  
"You know I will." She turned to leave, not wanting to say the words that would make it so final. She walked to the door, and stopped before opening it. She almost turned around, but heard what he said to her, 'don't look back, you'll see someone or something that will need you, and you won't go.' She steeled herself against the emotions, and opened the door. "See ya around Luke," she tossed over her shoulder, without even looking at him, or stopping. Then she was gone, the door gently shutting behind her.  
  
Luke watched the door for a minute, to see if she'd come back, knowing it wouldn't happen, but hoping it would. "It's been nice knowing you Smokey," he said to himself. He poured himself a glass of cognac and gave one final salute to the redhead who had just left his bar and his life. 


	2. Chapter 2 Mac

BRIGHT EYES Chapter Two  
  
**MAC**  
  
~Once upon a time, there was light in my life, now there's only love in the dark  
  
Venus made her way down the street wanting to check at the Outback first, hoping that either Flea or Mac would be there. She wasn't sure that she could handle making the rounds to try and find them today. She was already drained from her visit with Luke, and knew that the good byes were only going to get tougher as the day wore on.  
  
Luck wasn't on her side though, she soon found out. The hostess at the club hadn't seen Felicia in days and Mac had already called to check in from the station. V hadn't even considered going back there, but realized that this might be her only chance she got to say goodbye to the guys.  
  
She thanked the hostess and considered hailing a cab, but took the time to walk. It wasn't that far, but on foot it would take a bit longer and give her the time she so desperately needed to compose herself in a manner she'd like to be remembered. She didn't want her emotions getting the best of her in front of her former colleagues.  
  
A half-hour later, she walked into the precinct, having stood out on the steps for ten minutes telling herself she could do this. She smiled and waved to some of the guys that she wasn't as close to, and motioned to Taggert that she wanted to talk to him in a bit. He nodded at her, but noticed that she didn't seem to be acting like herself. Her smile wasn't as bright, almost forced it seemed. He knew that something was wrong, but he wouldn't follow her now, when he saw her heading for the bosses' office. He'd catch her later.  
  
She stopped at Mac's secretary's desk, who waved her while still on the phone. Mac was sitting at his desk, probably working on a case. He looked up at her with a kind smile. "I could use your help here if you have the time V." He said, looking back down at the file in front of him. "I think that this is right up your alley. No friends involved, but a little boy is missing and we can't seem to get a lead."  
  
"Actually, I don't think I'd be much help Mac,." V started, unsure where to go next. "I'm going to be out of town for a while." She finished, wimping out for the moment. "When you get back, I'd like you to take a look at a couple of things that the guys haven't been able to figure out. You were always able to look at the same thing that Taggert does, but see what he was missing."  
  
"Well, that's what I came to talk to you about Mac, I wont' be coming back. I'm leaving Port Charles for good. I've been made an offer I just can't refuse. I came to say good-bye. I stopped at the Outback first, and when I couldn't find you or Felicia, I decided to stop here before going off looking for her."  
  
"Does this have to do with either your employer or your former employer? If you need a job V, I would love to have you back here. Whatever Ned and Jax did, I'll fix and make them pay for it. I always told you that those Jacks brothers were no good, and Ned portrays himself as a good guy, but he's still a Quartermain."  
  
"It wasn't Jax or Ned," V said with a small laugh. Leave it to Mac to always think the worst. "They've both been joys to work with, and I never had to worry about them using me to get information on my friends." She had never been able to prove that they had used her to get information on Jax or Jerry during the big bust, but she could only assume that it had happened. For everything that had been said, a denial had never happened. Everyone had tip-toed around her when it first happened, but when she wouldn't back down in her defense of Jax, or in the fact that they had kept what was happening from her they just avoided her. That fact hurt almost as much as what had happened to begin with.  
  
He hadn't been forgiven, he knew that, but he didn't know that the hurt and feelings of deception were still so close to the surface still. "It wasn't supposed to be like that V, you weren't supposed to get hurt like that."  
  
V interrupted him, not wanting to fight about what happened, "Mac, let it drop. It's done it's over and nothing you will say can change how we both feel about it. That isn't why I came by. I wanted a chance to say goodbye, and to thank you for the chance you gave me. It might not have ended how either of us would have wanted it too, but I think that in the end, it was best for me. I found that I really loved working with Ned, and that being a cop wasn't the only thing I could do with my life."  
  
"I never doubted that, and it's why I knew when you left here, that you'd land on your feet. I just wish it hadn't of ended like it had. That you hadn't left when you did."  
  
"Well, if I ever come back, I'll take you up on the offer of looking at some of those cases," She didn't want to think of what could have been, it would tie her up in knots and she'd start to reconsider her decision.  
  
"Where are you going, do you have plans or are you just leaving and going where the urge takes you?" He asked, knowing she was done talking about what had happened before, that her mind was already looking towards what was going to happen next.  
  
"I'm going on a cruise, a gentleman that I know wants to show me the world, and I thought it was a great idea. We're leaving tonight to pick up his yacht, and then we'll just go where the wind takes us. I thought it was pretty romantic in all honesty."  
  
"He probably doesn't deserve you V, you're one in a million. But I hope that he makes you happy. If he doesn't, you come back and let me know. Between Taggert, Garcia and I, we'll take care of him."  
  
"I can take care of myself Mac, I always have. But thanks for the offer. I've got to go tell T and Alex that I'm leaving. I thought about just leaving, but I couldn't' do that to all of my friends here. You've all become my family, and I might not have always liked you guys, but I always loved you."  
  
"The feeling is mutual V, and know that where ever you go, you're taking us with you." Mac said with a sly grin. "Which means no funny business or we're going to know about it."  
  
"I was just thinking that makes for a crowded romantic trip. And not exactly what I want or need, 3 big brother types sulking around while we're gambling in Monaco or scuba diving of the coast of Mexico." V said, glancing at her watch. She still had a few hours before she was supposed to meet Simon, but knew that she shouldn't stay anywhere to long, she had a lot of people to get in touch with. "I should go talk to T & Garcia, say my farewells. I want to make sure I say bye to everyone, and I have a feeling it's going to take a little more tracking to find some friends then others."  
  
"Felicia," He said with a knowing look. "Try over at the Quartermain mansion, I think going to talk to Lila some more about her memoirs," he said, in a near perfect imitation of his wife.  
  
"I will Mac, I have to go over and give Ned my letter of resignation, so I'll check while I'm there." She stood up to leave, then turned as if she remembered something. "Mac, I know the girls are at camp, so I'm not going to be able to say goodbye, will you please give them my love and tell them I'll send post cards and pictures from where ever I go."  
  
"I will, don't worry. They'll understand, especially if you drop a note every once in a while. They'll miss you, but they know that some people are meant to stay in Port Charles, and that others have wanderlust in their hearts that take them away for a while, but someday they'll come back, if just for a visit."  
  
"I will be back someday," She said with a certainty that she wasn't sure she felt. "I don't know when, but this will always be home."  
  
"Haven't you heard, you can't ever go home. So go and enjoy the adventure now and maybe if I can ever pin Felicia down, we'll come out and visit you and your Simon someplace fun and exciting."  
  
"I'd like that Mac, a lot." She turned with one last smile and opened the door. "I'll let you know the first time we hit someplace fun and exciting." She wanted to turn around, give him a hug and thank him again, but she'd never get out of here if she did it. She kept hearing Luke, and she went against her better judgement, following the sage advice of her friend. She pulled the door shut and headed into the main part of the precinct again, off to find her buddies for one last hurrah with the guys who spent many a night watching her back and keeping her feet on the ground at work. 


	3. Chapter 3 Taggert & Garcia

BRIGHT EYES Chapter 3  
  
**Taggert and Garcia**  
  
I get a little bit tired of listening to the sound of my tears- Bonnie Tyler  
  
V saw Taggert sitting at his desk, watching for her. Even if she wanted to get out of here without talking to him or Alex, it wouldn't happen. The hawkish lieutenant was looking to score a major kill, and find out what was bothering Ardanowski.  
  
"Lieutenant," V said formally with a nod. When they were out on the town together she had no problem calling him Marcus, but here with everyone around she always tried to show him a little respect.  
  
"Ardanowski, cut the crap and tell me when you're leaving,"  
  
She looked at him shocked. How could he know what was happening before she said anything. "How did you know? No one else has even guessed, and didn't even believe me at first when I told them."  
  
"Of course I knew, you were working to hard at making it look like you didn't have anything to hide." He kicked his feet up on the desk and gave her a slow grin. "I didn't figure you were dying, and I don't think that you'd be looking guilty just for liking your new job, so it had to be that you're leaving."  
  
"And?" she asked, knowing he knew more or thought he knew more then he was letting on. "What else to you know Taggert."  
  
"You know me Ardanowski, I never reveal my sources, but I have heard that you've been seen on the arm of a new man, and I did some digging. Mr. Prentis has some plans to be leaving town pretty soon, and I have heard he's not going unless you go with him." He held up a finger. "Hold on, let me get Garcia in here, he'll want to hear this too." He picked up the phone and paged their mutual friend. He showed up quickly, smiling "You're going to help me win twenty bucks right gorgeous?" He asked, leaning over to kiss her on the cheek before sitting down in the chair next to hers.  
  
"I'll do anything that I can to help out, who do you have a bet with and how can I help?" She asked, afraid that she knew what he was betting on, but knowing that she was right when she saw T's cocky smile. "Pay up Garcia, she's leaving." To V he said, "I told him you were going but he didn't believe me. The boy never listens to me, and you'd think that after all this time we've been working together, he'd finally learn that I'm always right."  
  
"Say it isn't so V, you're going to leave us here with the boss while you're off playing party girl with a guy that hasn't worked a day in his life unless you count the weekend he tape his clip on 'Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. That so isn't your type."  
  
Venus glared at Taggert, knowing that the information had come from him. "That isn't true at all Alex. He worked very hard to convince me to go out with him, and then to leave with him on our trip." What had possessed her friend to tell Alex that.  
  
"From what I've seen that's exactly true V, and you know it. You're only defending him because now you're going to be living amongst the idle rich, and you don't want us talking about you that way."  
  
"You don't know anything Taggert." She spat angrily, "Simon is a good man, he is rich, and doesn't have to work, but he's going to. We agreed, I'll vacation for a year, and live a little and then he's going to get a job and we'll both work."  
  
"Oh right, after a year of doing nothing but sit on a beach drinking champagne and doing whatever else you're going to be doing with this guy, you expect me to believe that you're going to get a job that requires some sort of manual labor. Give me a break. You'll probably find that you enjoy volunteer work and a being a lady who lunches. You sure wont' want to hang out with your cop buddies and get a beer over at Jake's with us if you ever come back to see us. And I suppose that's a big if."  
  
"You bet it's a big if, especially after the way you've been acting. Who the hell do you think you are to make any judgments about the people I associate with or what I do with my life? That takes a lot of balls, especially for a man who can toss out Broadway tunes as easily as he can be gruff and nasty.  
  
He didn't deny it, but he look down at his desk, no longer grinning. She shouldn't have known the reference, but then again, Ardanowski surprised him more often then not. "Well, I'm not the one throwing away everything I've worked for to go sit on a beach drinking myself into an oblivion. You've always worked hard at everything you've done, and now at all of 26 or so, you're retiring? What's up with that?"  
  
V stood up, livid. She leaned over putting her hands on her desk, making a move towards Taggert, but then thought better of it, knowing his reflexes were sharp as a tack. "Who the hell do you think you are, to say something like that to me. Not a friend, because a friend would be happy that I finally have a chance at love. Someone who didn't know me at all wouldn't say that to me, because they would at least be polite about what I was doing, even if they didn't mean it." She took a ragged breath that bordered on a sob.  
  
"I came here to say goodbye, having said that, I don't think that I have anything left to say to you Lieutenant." She turned on her heel, and saw Alex, sitting there not deserving to see what he just had. "Alex, I'm going to miss you so much, I've known you longer then just about anyone else here. I hate leaving things like this, but I'm now going to be insulted because of a choice I've made." She said I quietly, and hugged him when he stood up to try and stop her leaving. "Alex, don't. It's better this way. I can't force him to be civil and say goodbye. I just wanted to let you guys know I wouldn't be around much and that I'd miss you."  
  
"V, you can't leave like this. He's acting like this because he doesn't want you to go. Now you know and you'll feel bad and it'll ruin all this new and great stuff you're going to be experiencing. Do you want to give him that kind of power."  
  
"I haven't, nothing can ruin this for me. I am so thankful that my true friends have been supportive of me so far, and that only one has seen fit to try and rain on my parade. And if he isn't sure what that means exactly, tell him to go watch Funny Girl, he ought to know exactly where to find it at the movie store and it will give him a pretty good idea of what I mean." I kissed Garcia on the cheek, and turned to leave. "I'll let you know where I end up Alex. And I'll always be around somewhere." She said letting him go and walking towards the door. No looking back, no regrets. She made it through the door and almost down the steps before she was grabbed from behind and whirled around into a tight embrace.  
  
"I didn't think you'd leave." Taggert said, into her hair, his grip tightening on her.  
  
"Just now or ever Marcus?" She asked, still not happy with him, although the fact that he came after her was doing a lot to make her feel better.  
  
"Just now, but in the greater scheme of things, I suppose I never thought you'd move on. You've got friends here, and a career. Plus a second back up career if you ever wanted to come back to the force. And to see you throw it all away for what?"  
  
"For real happiness and love." She interjected before he could go on and list what he thought she was throwing it away for. "I want what everyone else has for once in my life. Do I not deserve that or am I expected to lie without just because I'm everyone's best buddy? She asked angrily.  
  
"No, you deserve every happiness in the world darling, I just wish you weren't going to be living that life so far away. Couldn't you fall for a nice, hard working cop? One who goes out to work in the morning and the only place he's going to take you is out to Luke's for the night?"  
  
"I wouldn't be happy with a man like that. I want someone who can show me the world, not show me my father at my age. I grew up with a cop; I want to grow old with someone who turns my knees to Jell-O. Someone who lives fast and hard and who loves the same way." She had never realized it before, but her description of her true love fit Luke Spencer to a tee. But he couldn't possibly be what she wanted.  
  
"Then it appears I've lost you for good. I'm going to miss you V. You're the only one around here who understands me." He said sadly.  
  
"And I still will Marcus, I just won't be here, it'll be by phone. I am no further away then the corner of your desk. I'll even help you out on cases you can't seem to crack." She offered with a smile.  
  
"Don't be expecting any calls like that, but I might give you a buzz when I give my notice and take off for my year long round the world adventure."  
  
"I don't know ho you do it Taggert, but you have amazed me yet again. Make sure you pay whichever snitch it was extra next time you see him. He's good." She said breaking their embrace and stepping away from him. It was that time and she had to say goodbye.  
  
"Will do Ardanowski. Be careful out there. I'd hate for our resident goddess to end up being shark bait." He took a step towards her, but thought better of it, stepping back.  
  
She knew that they were ok, and that she could leave guild free. "Don't you worry about me. You've heard of Crocodile Dundee? Well, I can one up him. Meet Hammerhead Ardanowski, shark killer extraordinaire."  
  
"Sure, and I'm Miss America," Taggert said laughing.  
  
"Well, I always though you were to much of a pretty boy to be a cop. But then again, you're not that good of a cop," someone said coming up next to them.  
  
V say Marcus' guard go up when he heard Sonny Corinthos' voice, and knew she had to do something. "I'll see you Marcus, you've got some paperwork left to do, I saw it sitting there waiting for you." V said standing between her friend and his enemy. "I've got packing left to do. Just what all do you take on a trip around the world?" she joked, trying to break the tension. She pushed him when Taggert still hadn't moved. "I'll miss you buddy, but it's not polite to leave with you standing here. And you know me, Ms. Manners."  
  
"Behave out there V, and if you ever need anything or need someone to bail you out let me know." He said giving her a kiss on the cheek and glaring at Corinthos. He turned and went back into the office building hoping she could handle herself with Sonny, but knowing that there was little she couldn't do.  
  
""So you're leaving town, what did you do, kill someone and since you're still a cop they're letting you go?" Sonny asked, the leggy redhead that he hated to love.  
  
V rolled her eyes, wishing this was one conversation that she didn't have to have with this one person. 


	4. Chapter 4 Sonny

Bright Eyes Chapter 4  
  
**Sonny**  
  
I don't know what to do; I'm always in the dark- Bonnie Tyler  
  
"Mr. Corinthos, this isn't anything that involves you. I was just finishing up my business here and heading home, and I would suggest that you do the same. Or you're likely to become a permanent resident here. You know Lt. Taggert doesn't care much for you," V started to move past him, but her adversary stepped back into her path.  
  
"I make it my business to know what my friends are doing V, and haven't I told you to call me Sonny?" He said with an easy grin. He loved to get her riled, her eyes always flashed, they didn't look harsh but like melting chocolate. She was hardly his typical female companion, but she had proven herself as being a woman of morals and of superior skills. He respected her for that.  
  
"We're not friends Mr. Corinthos, and we never will be. If you don't mind, I do have a lot of packing left to do, and very little time to do it. Please step aside and let me go home."  
  
"You wound me V, I thought that after our stint together on Tiger Key we made a pretty good team. And that we had at least a mutual respect for one another." He gave her a sulky look, sure he hadn't misread what they had between them  
  
"Mutual respect, if that's what you want to call it, aside. That is not what friendship is made up of." She started walking away, determined to get away from this man, even if it was with him following her. "What you are is a man who has no true friends, and who latches on to the closest thing he can find to one." She wondered if maybe she hasn't pushed to far, but she wasn't in the mood for typical Sonny Corinthos games.  
  
"You certainly cut to the heart of the matter don't you Ms. Ardanowski? And if I'm not wrong, you were aiming for my heart. It must be because you like me so much, and don't want me to know it." He caught up to her quickly, unsure why he was following her at all. She made it very clear he wasn't welcome. "I bet you'll miss me most out of anyone here. And you'll always wonder what could have been."  
  
"When I'm sitting on a yacht, in the middle of the Mediterranean, I promise you that you will be the last person on my mind Sonny." She realized that she had called him by his name, and rolled her eyes, sure this was going to have him gloating. She looked over at him, fearing the worst, but only saw the smallest of smiles crossing his face. "You amaze me. After everything I've said, you pick up on the tiniest of things, and turn it into your rallying point."  
  
"Can't fault a guy for having hope can you?" Sonny actually flushed, knowing she'd caught him. " I always thought some day you might give up your crush on pretty boy and come looking for me. You're quite a woman, and we could have painted the town red, and maybe a few other colors while we were at it."  
  
V stopped dead in her tracked, not sure she had heard him right. "You thought we could have done what? Why on earth would you have thought that? I was a cop and you were." She wasn't going to outright insult the man, but he was a criminal. There was no other way around it. She thought of how she could phrase it, and couldn't come up with anything that would sound better. "Well, you were an officers worst nightmare. We have nothing in common and I never looked at you in that way."  
  
"I know," He admitted, the defeat clear in his voice. "But I always wondered what it would be like to be the one to take you home at the end of the night."  
  
"I never knew," why did she feel so guilty all of the sudden, for not knowing that a totally inappropriate man had wanted to ask her out. "Not that it would have changed things, but I still never knew."  
  
"You weren't supposed to know. It was more fun admiring you from a far; you were my own little secret. If you knew, it wouldn't have been half as much fun."  
  
"And you decided to tell me this now because?" Didn't he get that she was leaving, and that she wasn't going to be swayed. "If I was some kind of sick secret fantasy, did you have to tell me about it? I could have lived without the knowledge. Did you think I wouldn't leave or something, knowing that you've had this unrequited love thing going on?"  
  
"No, I didn't think that at all. It will explain what I'm going to do next though," He took V's arm, and pulled her flush against him. "I've wanted to do this ever since Tiger Key, and I've never had the chance." He tilted her head back and smiled. He brought his lips down to hers, hoping beyond hope that she didn't slap him. When he wasn't pushed away or hit, he deepened the kiss, running his fingers through her silky red hair.  
  
He was the one who broke the kiss and moved away from her stunned. "I never thought I'd get the chance to do that, I never thought you'd let me." He looked in her eyes, hoping that something would have changed in them, disappointed when he didn't see what he wanted. "I'm not going to get a chance to do it again either am I?"  
  
"Sonny, it was nice, but it wasn't something I'd do again, no." She started walking again, needing to get away from him. "I'm sorry, this isn't something I had planned, you took me by surprise. And put a real crimp in my afternoon."  
  
"Well, if I can't take you home with me, I'm glad to know that our relationship will be on the same level as before. I'll always be your favorite wrinkle I hope?" He had caught back up to her, not letting her get away so easy.  
  
"That might just be the best description I've heard for you yet. I promise, you'll always be that." She smiled fondly at him. She would even miss him, for all of the annoyance he had caused her, he was always a breath of fresh air.  
  
"And you'll think of me while sitting no that yacht in the Mediterranean?" He asked, teasing her.  
  
"Don't push your luck Sonny. There are no wrinkles in paradise. Just tall, chilled tropical drinks and men dropping grapes in my mouth. And no, I don't need anyone to fill that position for me. I've already got someone who will do a stand up job doing it," She said cutting off his next question.  
  
"Well, let me walk you to where ever you're headed. A lady can't be to careful out here alone." Sonny offered gallantly.  
  
"Thank you, but I don't need protection, and to be honest, I'm not sure where I'm even going next. A lot of people to talk to yet today, and not a lot of time to do it."  
  
"Then I will say my goodbye here," He leaned in and kissed her gently on the cheek. "Sorry for all the wrinkles. But you were so fun to mess with most of the time."  
  
"Get out of here Sonny, before I stop thinking fondly of you and take Taggert up on his offer of finding you permanent residence here."  
  
"Yes ma'am," He said with a smile and a salute. "You know where to find me when Paradise gets boring," He called to her retreating back. "I'll always be around and waiting for you to come to your senses."  
  
"You'll be waiting a long time Mr. Corinthos. For once in my life, I know I'm doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing," She said with more confidence then she felt. She was heading in the direction of Kelly's, hoping to catch up with Felicia there. 


	5. Chapter 5 Jerry

Bright Eyes Chapter 5  
  
**Jerry**  
  
Every now and then I get a little bit angry and I know I've got to get out and cry. - Bonnie Tyler  
  
V jogged into Kelly's checking one last time to make sure Sonny hadn't followed her. His kiss had effected her more then she was willing to let on, and she didn't want him to see it in her eyes. It wasn't a life ending; I'm falling in love with you kiss. It was sweet and tentative leaving her wondering if she hadn't misjudged him after all. She saw an open booth towards the back of the diner, and made her way through the crowded room, to take it. She sat down, and looked over a menu, holding it up high enough so it would hide her fact if Sonny had followed her.  
  
She had been there maybe five minutes when a shadow fell on her table, and she knew that her waitress had arrived. She wasn't expecting to hear the voice she did though.  
  
"Hi, what can I get you?" The thick Australian accent gave him away before she even set her menu down. She lowered it slowly, making sure Sonny wasn't there, then smiled at the sight. Jerry Jacks, in a pair of black jeans and a T-shirt, wearing a green apron and carrying a small order pad.  
  
"I'll have a chicken Cesar salad, dressing, chicken and feta on the side, no beets, and a water with a slice of lime," she ordered before laughing. The sight of him was almost too much to take. "And I want to know when you decided to give up corporate raiding and go into waitressing."  
  
"V, you wouldn't be looking for a temporary job would you? Something that will keep you busy on days when you should be doing Asthenia's beck and call?" He asked her, his eyes twinkling, while he wrote down her order. "That was extra beets right? And the feta all piled up in the middle?"  
  
"You don't make very good tips do you?" She asked, as he walked her order behind the counter and told Bobbie that he was going to take a break. He walked back over to V's table, taking off his apron, and sitting down across from her with two waters, minus lime. "So tell me goddess, what's a lady like you doing sitting in my section? I thought you'd prefer the pretty Ms. Webber over rough and tumble me."  
  
"Me pass up the chance to see one of the Jacks boys making an honest living? I surely think not. If I had known you were pulling double duty at Kelly's, I would have been here for lunch more often."  
  
"I'm just helping Bobbie out today. Tammy needed a day off, and she was short handed. It's not so bad, and I've made five dollars in tips. It might not seem like much to you, being a manager of a big rock star, but us corporate raiders have to start somewhere."  
  
She had never seen him look this happy in all the time she'd worked for Jax, and indirectly for him. Maybe it was a new lease on life, and she had a feeling it all started with the red head that was trying hard not to look over at them. "You're happy aren't you Jer? You never seemed to be before when you were working with Jax."  
  
"It's an incredible rush V. Not filling in as a waiter, but loving another person, one who you can depend on and who depends on you." His smile said it all, and she was rather jealous of it. She knew she didn't look like that when she talked about Simon. "Don't tell anyone, but I think that Bobbie is the one. I've never been so content in my life."  
  
"It's about time you admitted it Jerry, I think we've all been waiting for the big announcement." That part was true, she was just slightly bummed that she wouldn't' be here when it was going to be made. "So when is Ms. Spencer going to become Mrs. Jacks?"  
  
"Let's not get that far ahead of ourselves yet. I'm just getting to the point I can say I love you without choking on the words. Marriage will come some time down the road, but I don't think either of us is planning on rushing down the aisle. We both have issues with marriage we're going to need to get past first. Then we'll worry about the church stuff."  
  
"I am so happy for you, I just wish I was going to be here when you finally get around to settling down. You'll have to give me a call when it happens. I'll throw you a transatlantic telephone party." Again, her smile was starting to fade, and the tears were starting to well in her eyes.  
  
"Don't tell me lover boy convinced you to run away with him V? I thought you had better taste then that." Jerry said disapprovingly. "If you were looking for someone, I could have found you someone a lot less annoying."  
  
"Someone like you Jer? I don't think so." She wasn't sure why everyone was so against Simon. He wasn't perfect, but he wasn't as bad as everyone wanted to make him out to be. "I had my chance at someone you would have approved of, but it wasn't going to work. And I need to get beyond that."  
  
"Jasper is an idiot, not to see what he's got right in front of him." He had always secretly hoped that his little brother would come around and leave the model for the goddess. But Jax never had, and V had still stood by him all the while. "You sure you won't stay and try one more time? He needs you here, even if he probably won't admit it."  
  
"I can't be what he needs me to be anymore Jerry. I'm through being his crutch or his boo-boo kisser when something like his heart gets broken. For once, I'm going to do what's right for Venus Ardanowski and damn anyone who thinks it's not what I should be doing."  
  
"I never said that V, you need to do what's right for you. But are you sure that Simon is what's right? This isn't about getting away from it all for a while, to get your head back on straight?" He wouldn't blame her if it was. He'd considered taking off to get his life back together again, after everything with the Feds went down, but Bobbie had been his rock, and grounded him the whole time. Running hadn't seemed so important after meeting her. "If that's it, you don't need Simon, but if you really love him, I'll be happy for you."  
  
"What is love anymore Jerry? I don't believe there is a true and perfect love out there for every person. You found one, and that's amazing. But for me, I look, and I only see what everyone else has." She hadn't meant for such an emotional outburst to get out, and regretted it, because she knew he was only concerned about her. "I know what I'm doing, believe it or not. If there is a true love out there, don't you think I'd have found him already? She asked more hypothetically then anything else.  
  
"Maybe you weren't looking in the right place V. Or you aren't giving someone right in front of you a chance." His voice was filled with the wonder of a man who had a newly found love. "Or maybe you've been looking for it, and that's the problem. Love tends to come out of no where and trip you up when you're least expecting it. You just have to be open to it."  
  
"I'm the queen of being open to love Jerry. I've just been looking, just in the wrong places." And she was sounding rather bitter about it, she realized. "How could I not be swept away by Simon. He's kind, he's smart, and he searched the world for me. That goes a long way for winning a girl over."  
  
"Yes, but this is the same man who you knocked upside the head for cheating at cards. Is he all that different now V, or are you afraid that he's your last resort?"  
  
"I know what I'm doing Jerry. This isn't me afraid of being an old maid; this is me wanting to do something unpredictable. This is for me, not for Jax, Ned or the boys down at the station. For once, I want to put me first. I'd have thought you above anyone would understand Jerry. After always putting your brother first all of these years, you finally have come around and remembered that you have wants and needs too. I know you wouldn't go back to the way things were before, and I don't blame you. I need to get to where you are. And I think that maybe my going away will help matters."  
  
"You're running away V, and that doesn't seem like you. But as long as you don't tie yourself down to Simon, I'll still be happy for you. He's a scoundrel and I don't want to see you get hurt by him." He reached out and rested his hand on hers. "There are a lot of fish in the sea, most of them who won't bother you to no end and who won't call you their enchantress, but who actually deserve to have a woman like you."  
  
"You are a really nice guy Jerry Jacks. You've got that bad boy, couldn't give a care in the world image, but you are nothing but a great big ball of goo. You've got everyone fooled, and I promise I won't give you away."  
  
"No one would believe you if you tried to tell goddess. My rep is goo proof," He said with a laugh. "Only Bobbie knows that side of me, but I'm not surprised you figured me out. You were always way too perceptive to be working for little brother. Or to be pining after him. He's another one who doesn't deserve you."  
  
"Where were you all of my life Jer?" She asked, wondering how she had missed this part of him. She'd always known he was a lot of fun, but never that he was as perceptive as he was. "Or more specifically, where were you when I first stated pining over said little brother. I could have just as easily fallen for you."  
  
"I was off doing something illegal more then likely, and you never would have fallen for me. You were way to law abiding for the likes of me. And too much of a woman for me to handle more the likely. " He gave her a devastating smile. "Anyway, I like our relationship as it is. If we had gotten involved, well I probably would have done something stupid to ruin it, and I would be out in the cold. Plus, I'll let you in on a little secret. The younger ladies always fall for old Jax. I tend to like the older ones, they suit my needs much better. They aren't looking for a perfect angel anymore."  
  
"Well, no one could ever call you that now could they? And you're probably right. I would have run circles around you trying to reform you, and it would have driven you to the point of insanity. Not that far of a stretch, but I would have pushed you over the edge."  
  
"You come close and we're nothing but friends luv," He said squeezing her hand one last time before standing up and asking. "So when does Simon take you away from us?"  
  
"We're leaving tonight, once I've said my good byes. I still need to turn in my letter of resignation with Ned, find Felicia, who I thought I'd see here honestly, and then talk to your brother. Then it's off into the wild blue yonder." She smiled up at him, glad she had seen him before she left, he wasn't someone she would have gone out of her way to track down, but it was an enjoyable conversation none the less. "Oh, and could you make that salad to go. Since you probably got the order wrong and everything is mixed up anyway."  
  
"Sure thing kid, I might have put it down anyway. I'm a much better corporate raider, but I'll do anything for love once or twice."  
  
"Oh really? Is that something I can use against you later?" Bobbie asked, walking up behind Jerry with a brown paper bag. "You know, if you keep this up, I'm going to have to fire you. Getting orders mixed up like that isn't good for business." She set the bag down on the table for V. "This one's on the house, since he probably messed it up beyond belief V."  
  
"Thanks Bobbie, I appreciate it. But he's not that bad. He'd make a better bartender, but he'll do as a waitress." V stood up, taking her bag with her. "Take good care of him though, he's a special guy, who needs a good influence in his life."  
  
"I will, I kind of like him, and plan on keeping him around." The older red head said nodding. "You take care of yourself V. Don't do anything you'll regret later."  
  
"No regrets that's my motto these days," She wrapped one arm around Jerry's neck giving him a quick hug and a peck on the cheek. "You behave, and watch out for your little brother. He needs a keeper at times."  
  
"You've got it goddess, you don't do anything I wouldn't," Jerry added, kissing her cheek and swatting her backside. "And I will give you that call. I'm always up for a transatlantic party."  
  
V threw her head back with a laugh. "That leaves me lots of room now doesn't it Jerry?" She said over her shoulder heading for the door. "And don't you be a stranger either. You've got my cell number. I'll always be carrying it. Use it sometimes just for no good reason."  
  
"Sometime I might V. Take care hon," He said watching her leave. He turned and kissed Bobbie, glad that he'd finally found someone who wasn't running anymore. "There goes one classy lady. I'm going to miss her."  
  
"She'll be back. I've seen people come and go from this place Jerry, and they always turn up eventually."  
  
"I don't know, but I sure hope so. I can honestly say I'm a better person for knowing her," Jerry said realizing he meant it. "She's one in a million," he added, walking over to help a couple who had just sat down.  
  
V looked back in the window once before getting into the cab she had hailed. Jerry waiting tables was something she was glad she had seen, along with the look of contentment in his eyes. She smiled fondly at the scene she saw back in Kelly's and pulled the door shut after her. "The Quartermaine mansion," she told the driver, knowing that she wouldn't need to say anything more. Everyone in town knew where it was. She sat back and watched the town of Port Charles speed past her, as they drove out of town towards the Q compound. 


	6. Chapter 6 Ned & Alexis

Bright Eyes Chapter 6  
  
**Ned & Alexis**  
  
Every now and then I know you'll never be the boy you always wanted to be.- Bonnie Tyler  
  
V paid the driver and walked up the cobblestone path that led through a small garden. This had always been her favorite spot in the home/office of her boss and newfound friend Ned Ashton. He might infuriate her professionally, but he could always be counted on in a pinch. Today she was counting on him to not be very happy with her.  
  
She took the resignation letter she had written before leaving home this morning out of her suit jacket, fingering it thoughtfully. This was the first official sign of her departure. Saying goodbye to friends was one thing, but writing down all of her heart felt thanks while saying goodbye to a job she so thoroughly enjoyed was something she hadn't considered before Simon had come into her life.  
  
She walked into her living room "office" and found both Ned and Alexis sitting on the couch talking. She looked around relieved not to see Ms. Chloe Sunshine Morgan floating around the room being cheery. It was going to be hard enough without having the perpetually perky Barbie want to be around.  
  
"It's nice to see you two can stay friends after everything that must have happened between you," V said sitting in the sling back leather chair across from them. No one had told her how Jax and Alexis had suddenly ended up married, with Ned and the cotton ball engaged. She was sure she didn't want to know, and hadn't pressed for any details.  
  
Alexis flushed, and not for the first time felt guilty about not including their friend in this latest adventure. Before Chloe had arrived in town, it would have been V who would have been on this strange journey with them. Of course, they wouldn't be in the predicament they were in if it had been V and not Chloe. She looked at Ned, hoping he would have a quick explanation.  
  
"Just because things didn't work out between us," Ned started cautiously, not sure where she was going with this, "doesn't mean we can't still be friends. Alexis came over with information on wedding cakes. I'm trying to do my part to make this wedding smooth. Chloe runs her own company, and I'm doing very little these days,"  
  
"That is because you don't take your music seriously," She held up a hand warding off his oncoming argument. "It's true, so don't try to deny it or to defend yourself. Maybe that's why this isn't as hard as I thought it could be." She handed the letter she had still been holding. "That's just to make it official. I know you'll have questions, and that is why I'm here and not just leaving it on your desk. I respect you to much for that."  
  
"What are you talking about V? You make it sound like you're quitting on me," He said opening the envelope. He quickly scanned the contents, and explains shocked. "You are quitting on me."  
  
"I'm not quitting, I'm resigning my position," V correctly primly. "Technically, I'm even giving my to week notice, if you ignore the fact that I asked for those two weeks as vacation time."  
  
"This is about Jax isn't it? He somehow brain washed you into going back to work for him." Ned's smile had faded, and no where was the easy going boss V had come to adore. He turned on Alexis accusing, "You knew about this didn't you? You helped him back stab me and get he back."  
  
"Why don't you stop blaming me and Jax and look at the facts Ned. Ask her why she's leaving and stop being an ass." Alexis said testily. V looked closer and saw the strain on their faces. Maybe everything was as friendly as it first appeared.  
  
"If you don't want to ask, that's fine, I'll tell you. But you might have more specific questions then I would automatically think you'd want to know Ned," V said quietly, trying to stop the guilt she was feeling about this.  
  
"Why not start with why you're leaving me? If it's money, you know that isn't an issue. I'll pay you triple what he's going to want to pay you. I can afford to pay you what you're worth and then some V. He isn't solid enough yet."  
  
"Jax doesn't have anything to do with this decision Ned. He doesn't know that I am leaving yet. I'm going to see him next actually." She wasn't looking forward to telling her best friend she was leaving him. "I would guess he's not going to be any happier about it then you are."  
  
Alexis gave him a told you so look, and Ned wasn't sure why all of a sudden V was so unhappy and dissatisfied with the work they were doing. "What if I promise to play more. I'll do any gigs you get me, and if you stay, I'll even go into the studio. I've been writing some," He got up and strode to the fireplace picking up a note pad walking it over and handing it to her. "Look, I've got some good stuff V. I might even give Miguel a run for his money as L&B's top money maker."  
  
"I'm glad you are working on it, and you should go into the studio. You'll be great. But you should also be doing it for you and not to try and keep me." She sighed, wondering again if maybe she was wrong doing this. "Because I'm not staying. I'm leaving town tonight, and I don't know when or if I'll be back. And by time I am, if you work at it, you'll be a big star who won't need me to promote you anymore."  
  
"Will you help me?" Ned looked at Alexis, hoping a female would be more convincing. "We're going to lose her if you don't step up to the plate."  
  
"Ned, you don't get it. No one needs to step up to the plate. No one needs me here anymore. Jax has Alexis, you have Chloe," she wondered if her dislike for the designer was as apparent as it sounded to her. "I'm just a fifth wheel, where I used to be a fourth wheel on a tricycle, but at least I was still accepted and you guys wanted me around. Now I'm just left out and unloved. You've all got your own twisted lives going on, and you've got Chloe." That sealed the deal. There was nothing left to say beyond that. They had Chloe, who was essentially living her life.  
  
"We have Chloe, but we also need a V. You were never a fourth wheel, and you could never be a fifth wheel. You keep us from doing all the stupid things that Jax and I think are a good ideas." Ned was almost pleading, he knew that he'd never accomplish what he could without her there.  
  
"And that's how Alexis ended up married to Jax right? Because I couldn't keep you from doing stupid stuff?" V laughed at that, knowing it had never happened, he only thought it was her influence. Usually they had more sense then they apparently had right now. "You will all be fine, and someday, I'll be back around to visit. You know I can't leave you all forever. And hey, maybe Isabella will make an appearance in Monte Carlo this year. Simon can't resist a challenge. And if he knew you three were going to be there, well, I think that that would seal the deal. Nothing like taking money from friends. You and Jax have proven that time and time again."  
  
"It won't be as much without you here to tell us to stop acting like children," Ned said, his dimples slowly appearing again.  
  
"Maybe not, but who needs a nagging assistant slash manager when you've got a wife. And you're going to have quite a wife," She slowly uncrossed her legs, and pushed herself out of the comfortable chair. "And I'm not going to do it anymore. V Ardanowski is going to get a life, outside of you. I love all of you, I just can't live for you anymore." That's all it came down too, and as much as it hurt her to say it, she couldn't go back on it. If she did, she'd never go.  
  
"She's going if we like it or not Ned. Do you think it's going to do any of us good to push her away and out of our lives completely? Are you so selfish to think of just you and not of all of us?" Alexis stood up too, "If you would stop being a selfish idiot, you'd see that not everything revolves around you." She made a move for the door, then thought better of it. "V, would you like a ride anywhere? I'm going back to the penthouse, but I can drop you anywhere before I go there."  
  
"The penthouse is on my list of places left to visit. You don't mind?" She wondered what was really going on, maybe Alexis would tell her in the car, she looked like she could use a friend right now. "Of course you don't. You wouldn't have offered if you minded." V walked to the door following Alexis, but turned back to Ned. "Don't screw things up beyond repair boss. You'll lose everything if you do. Ask yourself if whatever game you're playing is worth the risk." She looked at Alexis' retreating back to strengthen her argument. "But it's your life. I'm not living it for you anymore." She blew him a kiss, and waved goodbye, heading out the door, speeding up when she heard Chloe's sugary voice coming down the stairs, calling for Ned.  
  
"Alexis, thanks so much for giving me a lift," She said getting into Jax's Jimmy. "Now would you like to tell me what's going on?"  
  
"It's complicated V. But the short story is that I'm falling in love with my husband." 


	7. Chapter 7 Alexis

**Alexis**  
  
Every now and then I get a little bit restless and I dream of something wild. ~Bonnie Tyler  
  
V looked at Alexis like she was crazy, or speaking in Latin. "And being in love with Jax, your husband is a bad thing because?"  
  
"If only you knew how bad it was," Alexis pulled out of the driveway, aiming the Jimmy towards town. "It wasn't supposed to happen this way. I was supposed to divorce him in a few months and it was going to be fine. But now I've fallen in love, and the last thing I want to do is get a divorce."  
  
"This is about Chloe isn't it," V wondered aloud, taking a stab at the heart of the problem.  
  
"That obvious huh?" Alexis asked in a distracted tone. "I suppose it seemed like a good idea a the time. And I'm happy with the results. At least I will be once I get my head together, and fall out of love with my husband. This wasn't in the game book."  
  
"Of course it's obvious. I've noticed that all bad things that happen these days can be traced back to Chloe. It's easy to pick out the evil component in a group of good people." Here she was again, talking about the one woman who she really didn't like. And she didn't not like to many people in the world. But Chloe had almost immediately rubbed her the wrong way.  
  
"I wouldn't go that far, she's not evil, just misguided," Alexis offered trying to make the best of the situation. "But right now, so are Ned and Jax. They both adore her, and in their eyes, she can do no wrong."  
  
"I hate to think they've been taken in by her, but what can you expect from them. They're mere men, who can't always see past a pretty face and perky, well a perky personality." V sighed in disgust. "That is how you ended up married then?"  
  
"It's exactly how I ended up married. I guess I should thank her for that at least. How else would I have come to this conclusion that Ned wasn't the one who was my soul mate, but that it was Jax all along?"  
  
"What was it, that finally pushed you to this realization? I'm curious when you realized it. I know when I saw the sparks, but Jerry told me I was seeing things."  
  
"You knew something before you heard we were married? It wasn't until I was seeing him all the time, living with him that I realized." She thought hard, to think of any other instances. "Maybe there were little things leading up to it, but nothing that made me think that this was who I wanted to spend the rest of my life with."  
  
"I saw it when we found you in the Sahara. There was a look that we walked in on, that made me feel like I was honestly intruding. You were gazing up into his eyes, like if this was really your last day on earth, you wouldn't have wanted to spend it with anyone else."  
  
"You saw all of that? Amazing. I was looking up at him, and thinking how blue his eyes were, and how I would love to go swimming. They're the color of the ocean." Alexis started laughing, and laughed harder when V joined her. "I was so hot, that I couldn't help it, and here all this time you thought it was some meaningful passionate gaze."  
  
"You could have fooled me. Maybe it was just me wishing I was in your place." She said dreamily. "I'll tell you this, since I'm leaving, not that I could ever be a threat to you anyway." She said with a smile. "I've always been head over heels for Jax. I took him as I could get him, but I was never the right woman for him."  
  
"I know you did V, Ned and I both knew, and we tried to help you out as much as possible." Alexis smiled gently at the younger woman, who had worn her heart on her sleeve for so long. "And I could never think of you as a threat. I know I can't touch your relationship with him, or even compare what we have to what you and he share. Best friends, they are always there, no matter what. You'll always be a big part of both of our lives. I've never had a girlfriend before you, and I am going to miss you as much as Jax I think."  
  
"But you said it yourself, I'll always be around Alexis. Having you and Jax here will always be a draw to bring me home. And you're both young and loaded. You can come visit me wherever I end up. And Simon being around will add lots of excitement." She smiled at the though. "I don't think that Jax likes him very much."  
  
"Jax will deal if you love him V." Alexis assured. "You do love him don't you?"  
  
"I lov." She stopped, knowing she didn't love him, at least not in the same way she should at this point, not the way a woman should when she's running away with a man. "I like him a lot. I think that he'll make me happy. If not, I'm not saying I'll marry him, I'm just going away with him for a while. If it doesn't work, then I find someplace new to be. I'm still young enough to start my life over again."  
  
"V, I would never assume that I knew better, or that you would even want my advice. But it seems to me, and tell me if I'm off base here, that you should love the person you're leaving town with for a romantic trip to where ever. I know it's never happened to me, but if I were in your place, I'd want to be going away for all the right reasons."  
  
"Everyone loves you Alexis. You're rich, you're witty, and you're beautiful and smart on top of that. If you wanted to go on a round the world cruise, you could just go. Me, I can't even afford a paddleboat out at the park if I wanted to take to the water normally. This is a real chance for me to do something that I've always wanted to do."  
  
"By selling your soul to a man you don't love? It seems to me that you'd be better served to stick around here and find someone you can't live without."  
  
Why did she automatically think of Luke when she heard someone she can't live without? "What if I told you, there might be that kind of person in my life Alexis? He sent me away today saying I should go and not look back."  
  
"Does he know how you feel?" Alexis asked truly concerned for her friend. "How could he send you away if he knew?"  
  
"I'm just realizing what all of these feelings are, I'm sure he doesn't know," She leaned back against the headrest, closing her eyes. "It's a sign. I'm not supposed to have true love, and I'm supposed to see what happens with what I have."  
  
"That's stupid V. You are supposed to have true love, you're just selling yourself short. Whoever it is wouldn't have told you to leave if they knew how you felt. I'm sure of it." Alexis turned into the hotel driveway, and pulled up the valet. She took the keys out of the ignition, and turned to look at V. "If you leave, you'll never know what was supposed to happen, and you'll always regret it."  
  
"If I don't leave, I'll regret it Alexis. I need to go and stop trying to look back. It's going to get me into trouble if I keep doing it." V sat back up, and looked at her friend. "Please don't argue with me Alexis. I'm already sad, leaving my friends. I don't want to be add mad to the list of emotions that I'm dealing with."  
  
"Just be sure V," Alexis said getting out of the car before the valet could open the door. She walked around the SUV and met V on the other side. "I don't want to see you make a mistake and feel trapped. I also don't want to lose my husband for a weekend while he flies down to get you from where ever is it you decide you can't live with Simon any longer."  
  
"Won't happen," She laughed. "I'll deal with whatever happens, and I'll do it without bugging you, Jax or Ned. I'm a big girl. This is all about me, and has nothing to do with you guys."  
  
"But we're your friends, and we don't want to be cut out. So don't do that either. We love you V, and we want to always be there to help."  
  
"Do you know how you can help me? You can go up there and tell Jax you love him." They walked in the door together, starting for the elevator. "You go up, I'm going to go have a drink at the Grille first. Telling Jax I'm leaving, it's going to be one of the hardest things I've ever done."  
  
"He's not going to like hearing it, but he'll understand V." She stepped tentatively towards the elevator. "Wouldn't you rather talk to him first? In case he doesn't like what I have to say?"  
  
"No way, you need to butter him up for me first. Get out some champagne, and we'll all have a drink together after I've spilled the beans."  
  
"Ok, if you insist." Alexis said before pushing the button for the elevator. "Come up when you think you think you're ready."  
  
"I'll be up in half hour or so. Don't worry, I won't bail without saying goodbye. Tell him I'll be up, just don't tell him why. No reason to have him take things out on you first." V hugged her friend. "You'll be fine. He's going to want to hear this."  
  
"I hope so." The elevator doors opened up, and Alexis got in. "Keep your fingers crossed."  
  
"They are," V called to the closing doors. She made a beeline for the bar at the Grille, she ordered a glass of champagne and went to sit down, but then she saw the one person she'd been looking for all day. She took her glass, paying for it before heading over to the table she saw Felicia at. "Do you mind if I sit down. I've been looking all over for you buddy." 


	8. Chapter 8 Flea

Every now and then I get a little bit restless and I dream of something wild. ~Bonnie Tyler  
  
**Felicia**  
  
Felicia looked up from her notebook, looking lost at first. "V, sit down please. I'm so glad to see you, every place I stopped today I heard you were looking for me. Most of the time I'd missed you by about ten minutes."  
  
"Did anyone mention why I was looking for you?" V asked, wondering if this was going to be easier then any of her only friends.  
  
"Mac told me, and I can't believe you're leaving V." Felicia gave her friend a watery smile. "Are you sure that you have to go?"  
  
"Do I have to go? No, of course not. But I want to go. This is a chance of a life time, and one I don't want to regret turning down when I'm old and grey."  
  
"Everyone deserves an adventure, so I can't hold that against you. I've had my fair share of them in my day. I'm just going to miss having you around. Who is going to read my manuscripts and check them for me? And you always manage to keep me out of trouble with Luke?"  
  
"You don't need me to keep you out of trouble Flea, you can do it on your own. And you're just not confident in your writing that's all. You don't need me here for that either." She said, to boost her friend's confidence. "I'm never more then an email, fax or cell phone away. If you really want me to proof your work, I will."  
  
"I'll keep that in mind. But maybe you're right. I can write, I know I can, I just need to keep telling myself that."  
  
"And when in doubt, call me. I'll give you an honest opinion. Your writing is always better after a glass of champagne and a Pina Colada." She joked, trying to lighten the mood.  
  
"Coming from you, who thinks anything is better with champagne, I won't be offended.  
  
"I'd tell you if you weren't writing well. But you'll be fine honest, just write from your heart and keep it true. You won't go wrong if you keep that in mind."  
  
"Can I quote you on that? Maybe while you're off on your vacation, you can stitch me a pillow or something with that on there."  
  
"Sew? Stitch? Are you kidding? I'll get the maid to do it while I'm romping on the white sandy beaches of Cozumel. Or maybe I'll have it printed on rice paper in like 20 different languages, one from every country that I visit."  
  
Felicia laughed. "That would be nice, how about a post card or two? Some pictures would also be nice. I've never seen Europe, or Asia. If you ever get down to Central or South America let me know. I've done my fair share of adventuring down there."  
  
"I'm much more inclined to visit the beaches of the world, and stay the hell out of the jungles and wilds. I can't see getting good mixed drinks with umbrellas anywhere in South America outside of Rio." V said, not knowing the full history of Felicia's travels.  
  
"Don't sell the area short V, it's beautiful down there, mixed drinks or not." She knew the younger woman would need to find that out on her own, but if she could encourage her to do it, then she'd have done her job.  
  
"We'll have to see what happens Fleesh. I think for once in my life I'm going to enjoy not having a set schedule that I follow." She said with a smile. "Why I don't have to wake up and work out anymore, or be at the office by eight in the morning to keep Ned or Jax on their schedule, which they'll ignore anyway. I'm free to fly, for what might be the first time ever. I report to me."  
  
"True, but you also have no home, no stability, no real say how long you're going to be someplace. You should have fun, but I guess that I'm glad my wandering days are done and I my adventures are close to home."  
  
"If I had kids and a husband, well, I'd probably be the same way. But I've always walked the straight and narrow. My dad was a cop, so I was a cop and the only thing I've ever done that was exciting was Monte Carlo with Jax. And that's where all my problems started. I met Simon there." She said with a small smile. Simon wasn't really a problem, just a man who knew what he wanted. If only she could say she was a woman who knew what she wanted. "But I don't figure I'll ever have that, so I'm not to concerned about it."  
  
"Why not? You're young and able. If you want a husband and family, make this guy marry you. It's your decision, you just have to let it be known."  
  
"Marry Simon?" V's face fell, at the though. "I don't think so. Maybe I'll change my mind after a year or two, but for now, I'm happy now as things stand."  
  
"Do you want to talk about it? It doesn't sound like a good situation, at least not that I can see. But," Felicia added, "If you don't want to talk about it, then I understand. I won't push you to make some kind of declaration of love or to explain yourself ." She hoped that her friend would, but she wouldn't push. She knew she could expect the same from V if it was here.  
  
"If you don't mind, I don't want to go into it. It's been a strange day, and I've been explaining myself the whole time. This morning, I was sure I was in love, and that I was sailing off into the sunset, now I'm sailing into the sunset, but I'm not so sure about the rest of it. I guess I'm just going to see where the waves lead me."  
  
"You don't need a man anyway. You're young, you're independent, you're beautiful and funny. See what happens. Why, maybe a prince will spy you from your boat and come over on his white charger, or his white jet ski and take you away to be his princess."  
  
"Or maybe I'll hit the continent and find out that I was meant to live in Paris, in a little studio, drawing on street corners for my food. I'm just going to take this year, and find myself. See who I am and what I want."  
  
"A studio in Paris, it sounds wonderful. Think I can come and join you there? You could draw people drinking coffee at the street café's, I can write short stories about them and do memoirs for little french ladies."  
  
"The girls could go to parisian boarding school and we could sit around all night drinking cheap wine and talking about lost loves." V smiled, knowing that a lost love wasn't even hers to have.  
  
"The girls would have to come? Well, forget it. I thought I might be able to relive a little of my pre-children days." The far away look in her eyes worried V a little.  
  
"But if you insist on having the girls along, I suppose that I will survive."  
  
"You'd miss them Flea. You've got good girls, and would it worth giving up a life you love for something so uncertain? And lost love, it's gone and who needs it."  
  
"Of course you're right V, and I know it." She wondered if maybe she should confide in her friend, about her latest adventure, with Lila's memoirs. But if her suspicions of foul play were correct, she didn't want to involve anyone yet. "It's writing about all the adventures Lila had as a young girl, they have me thinking crazy thoughts that's all. It was all so exciting back then, and what I wouldn't give to have a few of those carefree days again."  
  
V smiled sympathetically at her friend. "Well, Mac was talking about coming to visit me one of the first times I hit a sandy tropical beach. While not the kind of adventures Lila Quartermaine probably had, it could still be fun."  
  
"And it will be, I'll need a vacation soon, once I've completed my research, a few days of R&R before starting my writing."  
  
"Then tropical sandy beaches it is. I'll make sure it's a good place, where we won't get looked at funny if we're trying to get a lineless tan." V said with a twinkle of laughter in her eyes. "The boys will be thrilled, I'm sure."  
  
"You're probably right," Felicia said with a laugh. "And I will bring the girls, and we'll all romp around the beach, well perhaps not topless on the days we keep the girls, and have a wonderful vacation."  
  
"I'm going to hold you to that. I'll call the first time we hit the French Rivera. Bring the girls and Mac, leave the girls and Mac. Whatever you prefer. I just know I'm going to miss my girlfriend."  
  
"I'm going to miss you too, but you'll always be my very best girlfriend where ever I am. My location doesn't change the relationship in that way. It just means I won't be crashing holidays at your place anymore."  
  
"You're always welcome if you're in the time zone. Anytime you want V, we're here to host you."  
  
"Thanks, and who knows I might take you up on it if I ever get a hankering to visit home." She looked fondly at her friend, who she would truly miss. Felicia was the closest thing she had found to a sister. "You know, if I'm going to be ready in time for this flight tonight, I'd better be on the run. I still have to tell Jax I'm leaving." She left it at that, knowing that Flea knew exactly how she felt about her former boss.  
  
"He won't like this, not one bit V. You're going to need more then that one glass of champagne to get you through the rest of your evening."  
  
"You might be right, but hopefully his wife will have him distracted enough, so that I can slip in and out without much of a fuss." She and Felicia looked at each other for a second before laughing. "Ok, so it's not likely, but it could happen in my dreams."  
  
"That would be the only place V, that the scenario you just described would work. But since it's your last evening in town, I won't argue with you."  
  
"You're a real pal." V said leaning down to hug Felicia. "You keep your nose clean. And if you don't, I'll sic Taggs on you, and tell him you're associating with Sonny."  
  
"And you, stay out of trouble. Don't do anything I wouldn't, and you know that leaves it mostly open."  
  
"I know," V said with a sad smile. "I'll talk to you soon Flea. Be watching for post cards and such,"  
  
"At least that. I could use a new wardrobe when and if you hit Paris." She thought for a moment. "And some new paintings for the living room"  
  
"Bye Flea," she said, setting her empty champagne glass down on the table and walking away. She knew her friend would continue to chat if she continued to stand there. And Simon, well he was going to be picking her up from Jax's penthouse later on this evening.  
  
She grabbed an elevator, taking it up to the penthouse level. She checked her watch and saw it had been about 45 minutes, so Alexis would be expecting her. She knocked on the door and waited. She knocked again when no one answered after a few minutes. Only after the third time that she knocked with no answer did she get out the old key she had from when she had been working here.  
  
She unlocked the door and opened it making as much noise as she could. She saw her friends on the couch, and she had been right, Jax apparently from the looks of it appreciated hearing what his wife had to say. His shirt was half off, and she could see a bare shoulder that she could only assume was Alexis. "If I'm interrupting something here, well, I suppose I can catch you both next time I'm in town." She called out from where she had popped her head the door. "Or else you can both come visit me where ever I end up." She added.  
  
"V,' Jax said sitting up, then realizing he left a half clothed Alexis out in the open, took his shirt off and handed it too his wife. "Alexis told me that you were coming up, but you could have knocked." He processed what she'd said about coming back the next time she was in town. "What do you mean, the next time you're in town?"  
  
"Selective listening, you and Jerry both have it," She mumbled. "Well, I may as well just tell you, I'm leaving."  
  
"You can't do that V, what will I do without you?" Jax asked walking towards his friend. 


	9. Chapter 9 Jax

Every now and then I know you'll always be the only boy who wanted me the way that I am ~ Bonnie Tyler  
  
**Jax**  
  
"What do you mean I can't do this?" V asked, "I'm an adult and I can do whatever I want to do Jax. This is something I want and need to do. And just so you know, you'll be fine without me."  
  
"You would think so you're leaving." He groused. "This is some sick joke right? You're not going to leave me for good, you're going away for a few weeks right? When you get back we'll all have a good laugh and go out to dinner celebrating the fact you one upped me."  
  
"I'm going to get out of your hair so V can explain." Alexis said, pulling Jax's button down around her. "I've heard this story, and I don't want to be around for a second telling." She walked up to the master bedroom, the one she'd be sharing with her husband from now on.  
  
"You're really going to leave?" Jax asked, quietly, sitting back down on the couch, running his hands through his sun kissed locks. He looked up and watched V cross the room and sit next to him. "I never thought that you'd leave me."  
  
"Jax, this isn't about you. I don't like leaving you, but it's not like I'll never see you again." She said putting her hand on his knee. "There's always Monte Carlo, and you know Simon, he can't resist a challenge."  
  
Jax hadn't asked, but he assumed she was leaving with Simon. "We'll say we're going to see one another, but then we'll be reduced to a late Christmas card and an occasional call from where ever you land, saying you're still alive."  
  
"It will never be that way with us, I promise you." She said sincerely. "We'll always be a part of the other's life, because we want to be. You're such a huge part of who I am Jax. You gave me the confidence to do all of this, by seeing me as more then a clumsy cop."  
  
"Even when I dreaded your arrival at my door, or where ever I was, you were always more then that Venus. You drove me crazy. But in a sick way, I looked forward to you showing up and harassing me." A small smile couldn't help but peek out, as he remembered back.  
  
"I'll tell you a secret, I didn't believe you were a drug trafficker. I knew you were trouble, but I never believed it was drugs."  
  
"I should hope not, and I'm not trouble. That's my big brother's title. I'm the sweet angelic one that never does anything wrong."  
  
V laughed heartily. "You need to buff your hallo oh angelic one, which still wouldn't fool me. I know better then anyone else what kind of trouble you can get yourself into. I know all of your files after all." She teased.  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about V. I am innocent. I'd never do anything that you could find in my files," He shot back at her.  
  
"Maybe not, but I know you better then you probably know yourself. You cause just as much trouble as Jerry, you just don't get caught." She said it as a fact, since she knew it was one. Maybe he didn't dabble into the illegal, but he certainly was trouble in his own right.  
  
Jax looked at her, trying to read her mood. For someone who was getting ready to leave her friends she was in a jovial mood. "Are you ok with all of this?" He asked, wanting her to tell him exactly why she was leaving.  
  
"Well, I was pretty upset in the beginning, when I found out you had gotten married and I wasn't even invited," She chastised lightly. Now that she was up to speed on that, she understood why they hadn't involved her from the beginning, but it still hurt.  
  
"I wasn't talking about the marriage, I was talking about you leaving." He wondered to himself if she was intentionally evading him.  
  
"Talking about your marriage is much more fun then talking about me leaving," Her voice, already full of emotion was on the verge of breaking. "I want to know before I do go that you're going to be happy and that you're going to have a mature, non sugar drenched relationship. Someone needs to be here to take care of you when I can't be. I will be completely honest with you here, I trust Alexis with the job, and I truly fear what could happen if Chloe wants it."  
  
"Venus," he said sharply. "Chloe is a wonderful person, and she doesn't deserve to be slandered that way. She could more then handle me if she wanted to."  
  
"But she's not Alexis," V finished his sentence, knowing it was sitting there silently between them. The years of friendship allowed her to get away with it. "You know as well as I do that if Chloe get her perfectly manicured claws into you, that you'd spend the rest of your life doing happy things like dancing in the rain and searching out swan ponds to gaze at. She'd turn you into a smiling, senseless dolt before you knew it, and you'd never understand what happened to you or why people just shake their head sadly at you when they see you."  
  
"A smiling, senseless dolt?" Jax said before completely breaking down in laughter. "You're to much V. And your imagination is working overtime. Chloe is not a spider, and I'm not going to be caught in her web. She's just a very nice woman, who happens to be marrying Ned."  
  
"Alexis explained some of what is going on. While I don't know the specifics, I do know that the cuddly, fluffy spawn of Satan isn't what you need." She said it with a smile, but her voice told how serious she was. "You need a woman with a brain Jasper Jacks, and if you pick now to stop listening to me, I won't be held responsible for what happens."  
  
"You have no need to worry there. I'm going to hold onto Alexis. She's something." He said, his voice full of amazement. "It might have been a mistake to get married, but it's one I don't plan on correcting. I know this is going to sound like I'm a complete idiot, but I've grown accustomed to her face. Essentially, I don't think I could live without her."  
  
"What is it with the men in my life and musicals?" She wondered aloud. "You're the second one today to quote me one, and I have to wonder." At least she wasn't going to have to worry about him screwing up his life.  
  
"Left over from Brenda, she loved them, and My Fair Lady was one of her favorites. She made me watch it more then once." He said fondly, remembering another time and another love.  
  
V refrained from rolling her eyes, but just barely. "Alexis isn't exactly Eliza Doolittle, and you're certainly not Professor Higgins. But it's about time you found a woman who has a brain to match her beauty, and who can match you wit for wit."  
  
"I've always had a woman like that in my life, the timing was just never right with her. She's also unselfish, irreplaceable and she's one of the few people, outside of my mother and my wife, who can put me in my place." He placed two fingers under her chin, and brought her face around to where she was looking at him. "And I'm going to miss her when she leaves."  
  
"There is no way for me to say I won't miss you Jax," she said quietly, looking into his deep blue eyes. "But please don't make this hard. I've been dreading coming to say goodbye to you, just thinking about it makes me cry."  
  
"I don't want to make it hard, I just don't' want you to go. You say I'll be ok, and that Alexis can take care of me, and you're right, I'm sure. But just because I have someone to take care of me doesn't mean I want to lose my best friend. What happens if I create a great deal out of nothing? I'm going to want to go out and celebrate, and I won't have you here to do it with."  
  
"Nope, you can fly your wife off to some little sidewalk café in Milan, and celebrate together. You can also give me a ring on my cell phone and I can tell you how proud I am of you. It isn't the same thing, but Jax, I was never going to stay here forever. This was a temporary stop in my life, and I stuck around longer then I planned."  
  
"But I still need you." He said, pleading with V. "You just can't leave me with no warning."  
  
"I can, and I will. But that doesn't mean that I don't love you, or that I won't always be your friend and here for you. I'll even fly in anytime you need me. I just won't be living above the Outback anymore."  
  
"It won't be the same, you'll get to a point where you have a life of your own." He knowingly said, closing his eyes to imagine a life without V. "A life where you don't need to or you won't want to get together because instead of coming back to Port Charles, you'll have opera tickets with some count or duke. I'll be someone you used to know instead of someone you'll want to know."  
  
"There will never be a day where you were someone I used to know and who I no longer want to know. How can I possibly forget the man who made me who I am Jax?" She asked, unable to believe that this was strong, confident Jax talking. "Alexis might not be Eliza Doolittle, but I was. When I met you, I was someone who didn't know a fig about anything, and you turned me into a countess. You made it possible for me to leave with Simon. You gave me the confidence I needed to not just be another beat cop, hanging out with the boys drinking beer down at Jake's after my shift."  
  
"You had that confidence V, you just needed someone to help you direct your creative energies into making an Issabella. The rest was all you. I just helped out with the wardrobe."  
  
"One that is going to be used extensively, might I add." She said with a smile. "You did a lot more then that Jax, no matter what you think. I'm forever in your debt."  
  
"No Venus, you're not. I owe you as much if not more then what you think you could possibly owe me. You stood by me through some of the toughest times of my life, and you pulled me through them. Sometimes I wonder if our timing had been right,"  
  
"What might have happened between us? She interrupted. "It's better not to think about it. You're my best friend, I would never have done anything to mess that up. That includes trying to be more then a friend."  
  
"But you'd thought of it right? Every time you flew off to take care of me, when my heart was broken, you wondered right? It wasn't just me?"  
  
"I wondered, hell Jax, everyone wondered." She couldn't tell if he really didn't have a clue about how she felt, or if he was Jerry all but had me married off to you. Alexis and I even talked about it driving over here. She said she and Ned tried to help me in my cause at one point. But we both know it wouldn't have worked. You're the big blonde jock of a brother I always wanted but never got. And me, I guess I'm the annoying little sister who just wanted to be one of the guys, the one that you never had."  
  
"Maybe, maybe not V. I think you just let me off to easy. " Jax couldn't help but wonder if that was true. "We could have made it if we tried."  
  
She lightly slapped his knee. "You never could have handled me Jax, and you wouldn't' have wanted to after a while. It would have ruined our friendship and I would have hated to see that happen."  
  
"I suppose. But at least I wasn't the only one wondering." He said still curious about what could have happened.  
  
"If I had known you were wondering, maybe I wouldn't be leaving today." She said, sure that was true. "But you've got a wife, and I've got Simon." Leaving it at that, she didn't want an interrogation right now.  
  
"Yes, you've got Simon, and from your tone of voice, I don't think you're in love with him V." He didn't want to lecture, but he also didn't want to see her make the mistake of a lifetime. One he made once and had yet to live down. "V, I'm going to say this as your friend, and as someone who cares about you very much." He took a deep breath, unsure how she would react to his words of advice. "If there is someone else, someone that you think you want to be with. Be with more then Simon, you can't get on the plane tonight. You need to stay here, and make this person see that you are supposed to be here with them, not running off with Simon on his little adventure."  
  
"Jax, it's not as simple as that." She said, unsure of what she should or shouldn't tell him. "I won't change my mind. If there was someone, hypothetically, he wouldn't want me anyway. He'd tell me to get on the plane and go."  
  
"That seals it Venus. Whatever you do you can't leave tonight. You'll regret it always." 


	10. Chapter 10 Jax II

Every now and then I know there's no one in the universe as magical and wondrous as you. ~ Bonnie Tyler  
  
**JAX**  
  
"I'm not talking about it anymore. Simon will be picking me up here, and I'm going to leave with him. That's that." V said in as firm of a tone as she could muster. She decided to try a different approach, to see if maybe it would help her out. She softened her voice and looked at him with her big brown eyes. "It's my life Jax, and if I want to run off on a trip around the world, I'm going to do it. I wouldn't stop you if you decided to do this." She said, knowing she wasn't exactly being truthful but she wasn't going to tell him.  
  
"You wouldn't? Isn't this similar to running away from your problems? And haven't you followed me to Malibu more the once to pick me back up and put me together again?"  
  
"Different time and place Jax. And who says I have any problems?" V asked, outraged that he was fighting her not over leaving, that would have been acceptable, but because she was leaving knowing there might or might not be someone else here, was something she hadn't expected. Of course this had hardly been one of her typical days.  
  
"Perhaps, but you have a ton of problems. Who is it that you're running from? I know it's not me, we've cleared that up. There a lot of young, eligible men in town. None that I'd recommend, but you're trying to leave with Simon, so I know you don't take what I think into consideration." He thought hard about who she could be interested in. "It's not Ned, he's marrying, what did you call Chloe? The cuddly, fluffy spawn of Satan wasn't it?" He couldn't hold back his chuckle. Her description was funny and accurate, even though he'd never admit it out loud. "And I just can't see you as the home wrecker type. Which leaves out Mac too." He added as an after thought.  
  
"Is it Jerry?" He asked, as if the thought had never crossed his mind. He wasn't sure how he felt, her falling for his older brother, but if it kept her in town, he didn't really care.  
  
"Jerry? As in practically married, happier then I've ever seen him with his head in the clouds, waiting tables to make life easier for his intended Jerry?" She gave him an incredulous, wondering what planet he'd been on for the past year.  
  
"Jax, it's no one. You're looking for a way to keep me here, and it's not going to work. I'm leaving," She looked down at her wrist, checking what time it was. "In probably an hour, depending on how long it takes Simon to get the plane ready. He should be here any time now."  
  
"It's not to late, I can and will hide you from him V. I should have done it in the beginning, when you begged me to. But Chloe insisted that you should be the one to make this choice, and that you be given a chance to get to know Simon."  
  
"And that buddy, is what you get for listening to that...." V stopped, trying to come up with something that was a fitting description. "That fly by night, chiffon clad, side show..." again she stopped, trying one last time to come up with something suitable. "Woman," she finally spat, running out of steam. "One I wish had never come to town." She added softly.  
  
"You have such a way with words luv, to be call someone a woman in such an awful way," Jax said laughing again. "Remind me to always stay on your good side V, or else I won't know what to do with myself. I wouldn't want you calling me a 'man'."  
  
"Shut up you oversized dork. I hate you sometimes. Maybe not with so much venom as I hate Chloe, but you still have a tendency to drive me up a wall."  
  
"Of course I do, if I didn't, we wouldn't be half as good of friends. If there wasn't a challenge, there wouldn't have been any reason to stick around and try to get to know one another."  
  
"Still, on my last night in town, do you have to torment me? I thought you might want to be nice so that someday I might want to come back." She said knowing it would never happen.  
  
"She does have a point Jax. You could be a little nicer to her." Alexis said popping back into the room, carrying a bottle of champagne and three glasses. "Since there hadn't been any yelling for five minutes, I thought it might be safe to bring this in. Was I right?"  
  
"Aren't you always darling?" Jax asked, looking over his shoulder with a silly grin. One that V noticed was reserved for his bride. "I was trying to figure out who has won fair Venus' heart."  
  
"Jax, I know that you're not always the master of the obvious, but honestly. How hard is this?" She didn't want to fess up to knowing that there might be someone else. If V wanted to leave, it was her business and no one else's. "I would think that since she's leaving with Simon it must be him."  
  
"One would think, but with V, you never know. And she's trying to hide this from me, which means that it's someone she knows I won't like or won't approve of."  
  
"And he says that," V jumped in, hoping to get off of this topic. "As if I should care if he approves of anyone that I am involved with." She stood and met Alexis across the room, taking the bottle of champagne from her, "What he doesn't know is that I usually pick men I know he won't approve of, so that it will drive him crazy." Actually if he knew who it was, he'd know it was true and not just a joke.  
  
"Why do you think I decided that leaving with Simon was a good thing? I knew that Jax, after reconsideration would decide that he wasn't good enough for me, and would regret pushing me towards him."  
  
"You don't have to leave for that to happen. Just the thought of you leaving is making me regret it." He looked to Alexis for help, since he was getting no where with V. "You know, Alexis and I could really use some help around here, right Alexis? What if I quadrupled what Ned is paying you and cut you in on the profit of what we're going to make on this deal we're working on together. Could I convince you to stay?"  
  
"Not on your life. And I no longer work for Ned. I resigned my position before coming here." She said sitting down with the open bottle of champagne. She looked at the glasses that Alexis still held. "Is this bottle for me? I don't need a glass, if you two have your own."  
  
"I refuse to celebrate your leaving V. I can't drink and pretend I'm happy about something that is making me absolutely sick thinking about it." Jax said, trying to block Alexis from handing V one of the flutes.  
  
"Not sitting down and drinking with us isn't going to stop her from leaving Jax." Alexis said, wondering what was really wrong. It wasn't like Jax to prevent someone from doing what they really wanted to do. "Instead it's going to make V's last memories of time with you sour because you wouldn't be supportive of her."  
  
"Maybe she shouldn't be leaving and I wouldn't have to not be supportive. For once I want her to listen to me. I know what I'm talking about."  
  
Alexis, fed up with his antics, kissed him quickly, and when she pulled away she smacked him in the back of the head. "This isn't about you Jasper Jacks. Unless you've got a secret that I don't know about and you're really V, then you are going to sit down, play nice and stop making this harder on her then it already is."  
  
V couldn't help but laugh when he did exactly what Alexis said. "And you wondered why I was so concerned with leaving you here alone with that woman. She never would have been able to handle you like that." V said with a smile. "You'll be fine Jax. And I promise once I settle in somewhere or find a place that I want to be more then I want to be on that cruise, we'll get together for a long weekend. I'll even let you bring Alexis, if she promises to behave."  
  
"Thanks a lot friend. I always behave, it's my husband who has a hard time with it. And he's always trying to drag me into his trouble." She said looking at Jax in wonder. "But he's a hunk, so I'm not going to complain to much."  
  
"With a heart of gold, don't forget that part. Or I'll have to come home and kick your butt. I'm leaving him with you, this is a big step for me. I've never trusted him with anyone before."  
  
"How is it that you get to approve of my choice in a mate, but I don't get to reciprocate?" Jax asked, not sure if he should be offended or glad that there was someone who loved him enough, outside of his mum, to worry like V did. "Probably because you know I'd never allow you to run off with Simon."  
  
"There is that, and the whole idea of someone who I had a crush on picking my future mate just isn't very appealing to me. Just trust me in knowing that I do know what I'm doing, and that it's for the best." She said pouring champagne into her glass. "Come on you two. We need to have a toast, in my honor preferably, and quickly. Simon will be here any time now, and this is something I don't want to share with him. One last thing, that's just my friends and I."  
  
Jax took the bottle from V and poured a glass for Alexis and himself, before standing and looking at both of his ladies. "Since neither of you two are jumping at the chance, let me take just a minute to tell you about my friend V."  
  
"Oh this ought to be good," V said in a whisper to Alexis. "Please go ahead Jax. I can't wait to hear what you've got to say about me."  
  
"As I was saying. My friend V, the one woman who I didn't want in my life, but who wormed her way in. She completely changed my life, made me a better person for knowing her, and I'm going to miss her like hell when she runs away, leaving me for a man who she'll end up killing in about two weeks time." He stopped for a second, then continued with a smile. "Of course, that might not be such a bad thing. I'd actually pay to see her take him on again." Alexis cleared her throat, which seemed to get Jax back on track. "I'll miss you officer Ardanowski, but since you've been such a good influence on me, you can bet I won't be making any boarder runs anytime soon. Just out of my undying respect to you."  
  
"And promise me that you won't get yourself killed? And that you'll listen to your wife when she says something. Just like you would if it were me. Actually better, since you never listened to me the whole time I was here." She said raising her glass to Jax, then taking a sip of her champagne. "You know, I'm going to sleep from here to where ever we're flying to tonight. I've had a bottle of champagne, just on my own, or close too it."  
  
Jax was about to say something when there was a knock on the door. "Do I have to answer that?" His smile fading, knowing that to open the door was to let her walk out the door. We could all be very quiet and he'd go away after a while I bet."  
  
"Go answer the door Jasper, it's time for me to be going," V said quietly, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I'm ready, and so are you now." 


	11. Chapter 11 Simon

**Simon**  
  
~Turn around, Every now and then I get a little bit angry and I know I've got to get out and cry~ Bonnie Tyler  
  
"Go answer the door Jasper, it's time for me to be going," V said quietly, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I'm ready, and so are you now."  
  
"I refuse to turn you over to him Venus. If you want to leave, you're more then welcome to go let him in yourself." Jax settled back into the couch, making himself comfortable. "Be my guest."  
  
"Can you be any more childish Jasper? Please tell me that this is as low as you get, because if you can't, then you're not at all the man I've always thought you were." She stood in front of him, furious for letting herself get caught in the moment and the nice things that he had said about her. "I don't need to let him in, I think I'm just going to leave with him. Thanks Jax, it's been fun." She said heading towards the door.  
  
"Oh no you don't." Alexis said grabbing V's elbow. "You sit, Jax behave I'll go let Simon in. I'm sure that he would enjoy a glass of champagne with us."  
  
"Maybe with you two. I'm sorry if I'm not thrilled that my best friend is making the biggest mistake of her life." Jax was pouting, and he wasn't going to pretend to not be acting childish over it. "I love you V, I just can't support you on this."  
  
"I wasn't asking for your support or your blessing Jax. I just wanted my friend to be happy for me." She swiped at her eyes, those pesky tears making another appearance. "If you can't do that for me, well then I guess you were never much of a friend to begin with."  
  
Alexis glared at Jax and went to open the door. V followed, she had had more then her fair share of Jasper Jacks tonight, and this was not the last memory she wanted to have of her time in Port Charles. When Jax didn't follow to try and stop her, V knew what she had to do. She never thought of breaking ties completely with her friend, but she wasn't sure she could be friends with someone who didn't trust her enough to know what she was doing. She stepped through the door as Alexis opened it, not giving Simon a chance to even come in.  
  
"My enchantress, you look stunning." Simon's cool tones calmed V's nerves. He wiped one of the tears leaking from the corner of her eye, knowing without asking things hadn't gone as well as she hoped. "Are you ready to go my darling, or would you like to continue what ever it is that I'm sure you interrupted."  
  
"Go please. Were you able to have the driver pick up my bags? I'm afraid I never got home to do that." V fretted, not sure how to break ties. She'd never done it before, and as angry as she was, she was reluctant to do it now.  
  
"They're loaded on the plane already Venus love, the only thing standing between us and eternity is saying goodbye," He said softly, reaching out to squeeze her hand.  
  
"Not even that, I've said my goodbyes, I think that we should just go now." Her voice didn't quiver, her face gave nothing away, but her glistening eyes made Simon curse silently that he had let her do this alone without any support.  
  
"If you're sure about this, of course we can leave my goddess." He glanced in Jax's general direction before turning his soft eyes apologetically to Alexis. "It has been a pleasure to meet you Alexis. I'm sorry that things didn't work out better for everyone involved, but I hope that you will see fit to join us somewhere along our journey. Venus is going to miss her friends so much that if it's at all possible, I'd like to arrange some time for her to see everyone again. "  
  
"We'll see," Alexis said, not wanting to commit to something that would upset Jax even more then he already was. "I don't see why we couldn't come out to visit at some point. Just let us know when we're settled in."  
  
"Don't count on it. If V isn't going to listen to me now, what makes you think that she's going to listen to me anytime in the future." Jax asked from the couch, where he was trying to make himself comfortable. "If she's going to go through with this crazy scheme of hers, then I'd rather not be a part of it at all."  
  
"No one said you were invited Jasper," V said tightly. "Alexis is, Felicia and the girls are, even your brother and Bobbie. But I'd rather eat sand then to have to spend another minute with you."  
  
"And on that sentiment, I think we should be gone, before you say something else that you you're going to regret." V gave Alexis one last smile before turning to leave. "The worst thing in the world is to say something you regret as you're leaving. Some things are never forgotten."  
  
"I don't regret one thing I've said tonight, and I won't forget what's happened." V moved to hug Alexis, wanting to thank her silently one last time for taking care of Jax. He might be on her list today, of people she never wants to see again, but she knew she wouldn't be able to stay mad at him forever.  
  
"He's going to feel horrible about this once he has a chance to think about it you know." Alexis whispered in V's ear, "I'd say in about an hour at least you'll be getting a call on your cell phone from him begging for forgiveness."  
  
"Tell him save his breath will you? When I'm ready to talk to him, I'll give him a call. Until then he'd be better off not to push me. I'm not in the mood to deal with him." V said loud enough so she knew that Jax had heard her. She squeezed her friend tight one last time, trying to smile about the new adventure she was getting ready to leave on. "I'll call first chance I get when we hit land again."  
  
"Please do, who knows, maybe I'll be needing a vacation by then and I'll put all my cases on hold and travel for a month or two with you." Alexis walked out into the hallway behind V and Simon, trying hard not to say something that would place her in the same dog house as her husband. She might be the family gatekeeper, but she wasn't one to butt into someone's business. "Be safe out there V, I don't want to hear about you falling off the front of the ship because you two were trying to recreate that scene from Titanic, trying to be romantic."  
  
"No need to worry there, I'm not going to let this goddess out of my arms, I'll protect her from falling over should the occasion arise." Alexis had to laugh when V couldn't stop from rolling her eyes at that.  
  
"I won't need protecting Simon, honest. I have no intention of falling over board or even giving myself the chance too." When had her partner on this trip gotten so annoying, then she remembered he always was, it was her that had changed her perception of him, not him who had changed his ways for her. "I'm quite competent in taking care of myself, honest. I don't think your hero skills will be needed on this trip."  
  
"Of course I know that my goddess, but it can't hurt to have someone looking out for you just in case." Simon pulled V closer as they walked toward the elevator. "I'd hate for anything to happen to you dear heart."  
  
"Simon please," V was trying to hold her temper in check. She had talked to him about all of his pet names for her, but it obviously hadn't done any good. She pushed the button on the elevator, grateful it opened right away. No waiting, no regrets. "Alexis I'll call you," She promised through the closing doors. The elevator jolted to a start, and she settled back into a corner, away from Simon and away from any regrets. She was leaving and that was that.  
  
"Venus what's wrong? Are you having second thoughts about leaving with me?" Simon inquired, hoping she wouldn't bite his head off again. Something was different about her, but he wasn't sure what.  
  
"There's nothing wrong Simon," she sighed, not wanting to hurt his feelings. To tell him that she wasn't sure about leaving would hurt him, no matter how nicely she put it. "I'm just sad, this is the only place I've considered home. And now I'm leaving."  
  
"You know, if you aren't positive about this, I don't want you to feel obligated to come with me if it's not what you want." He watched V closely, hoping to see the tenderness he'd grown accustomed to, but not finding any.  
  
"I know that Simon, can't I just be sad about leaving for a little while? I'm sure once we're in the air, I'll feel better." V tried to assure him, but it sounded thin to her ears. "Or at least by time we get to where we're leaving from."  
  
"If you say so Venus," Simon was going to leave it at that. She would talk to him when she was ready, of that he was sure. He silently led her out of the elevator and out to the waiting limo that would take them to the airport.  
  
V moved to the back of the limo, hoping that Simon wouldn't sit down next to her. She didn't want to talk she wasn't going to talk and she just wanted to be left alone with her memories for the short trip to the airport. When Simon offered her a glass of wine, she waved it away, knowing she'd had her fill today. She watched out the window, only turning away when they drove past Luke's. She wasn't going to think, she wasn't going to regret what could have been but never would be. "Think tropical beaches and tall icey drinks V, that will get you through this," She said to herself not realizing that it had been spoken out loud and that Simon had heard what she said and frowned, afraid of what was going to come next. 


	12. Chapter 12 Luke

** LUKE **  
  
- I really need you tonight, forever's gonna start tonight, forever's gonna start tonight. - Bonnie Tyler  
  
V stood at the large wooden doors for a third time, unsure if she could go in and do what she wanted to do. While everything had changed for her, she just didn't know how she was going to do this, without coming off as a flighty teenager who didn't know her own mind. She was far from that, everything had changed for her tonight, and she was a new woman, one who was going to get what she wanted. Even if she didn't know how she was going to do it yet. But that wouldn't stop the new V, it would only push her to find a way.  
  
Not only her attitude had changed though, her whole appearance also had. Gone was the comfortable wool traveling suit she had chosen for the long flight. In its place was an outfit she had left over from her days as a rock and roll manager; a black leather skirt, and a white blouse, tied around her midriff with black thigh highs and a pair of black spikes topped off the outfit. She didn't know why she had packed it, it wasn't exactly a standard uniform aboard the QEII, but when she saw it in her closet, she couldn't leave it home, it had been to big a part of her life, something she wasn't ready to just leave behind. Now it appeared that her whimsy was going to pay off after all. If only she could get up the courage to go in and tell a man who she'd never had more then a passing flirtation with that she wanted to see where things could end up?  
  
Even if she faced rejection from Luke, she knew she was meant to be here in Port Charles at this time in her life. Jax and Ned both needed her in their lives personally if not professionally, both had come out and said that much. It hadn't been quite as easy as she thought it would be to turn her back on them and leave. She also knew she always had a place on the force if she wanted it, but that didn't appeal to her, at least this second it didn't. Why she even had a man who wanted to take her out and make sure she got home without any problems what more could she want?  
  
A man, one who loved her, quirks and flaws included. That is what she knew that was looking for. She loved Jax, but it would always be more of a best friend, puppy dog kind of love. They would never cross the line between friendship and relationship, because they respected each other too much. Their friendship was something tangible she could and always would hold onto. But she wanted someone to hold her at night, to tell her how beautiful she was. And hopefully her gut instinct was right, and she'd find it as soon as she opened the door. But still she stood there, thinking about the night's strange turn of events.  
  
~~Flashback~~  
  
V led Simon through the airport back to the corporate wing quickly. She'd often dropped Jax off here when she was still working as his assistant, and knew the best and most efficient way to cut through the crowd. There was no time for nonsense in her mind; she wanted to be on the plane and on her way. That would make it easier in the end. She knew that Simon was right behind her, following closely, and that was just one more thing that she could add to the list of things that had annoyed her about him today. But she wasn't even going to let that get to her, she was leaving, like it or not, like Simon or not. She had given her word and made plans, and she wasn't the type of person to go back on that.  
  
Their pilot was waiting for them at the departure gate and showed them onto the plane, where they were met by a bevy of flight attendants and co- pilots. V settled in a window seat, again looking out the window instead of at her companion. She could make out stars in the distant night sky, and couldn't help but look for a shooter, before leaving. Maybe that would settle her down, make it all ok. She hated doubting herself, and her decision. It wasn't like her, of course she rarely made such a rash decision to doubt.  
  
"V, talk to me please?" Simon pleaded sitting down next to her. Leaving her to her thoughts hadn't worked so far in bringing her around, so maybe if he could get her to open up things wouldn't look so bleak for her. "You look so alone sitting there, and you don't have to be. I'd like to help you."  
  
"There isn't anything to talk about," She started, but was interrupted by the pilot.  
  
"We've been cleared for take off Mr. Prentis, if you and your guest would please buckle in, we're ready to start our taxi out to the run way."  
  
"Yes, that's fine." Simon said dismissing the pilot with a wave. He was more concerned about his companion then about the airplane taking off. "Now come on Goddess, what's wrong."  
  
"Nothing, just leave it be Simon. If this is going to work, you have to learn not to hound me. I need to know that my independence isn't being infringed upon." The plane started to move, and V felt like her whole world was ending, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Leaving was becoming less and less of a good idea, but she had given her word, and her word was she had to stand on. If she went back on it now, she wouldn't be worth anything, at least not in her mind. But what kind of person would she be if she left with a man she didn't love, because she didn't want to disappoint him. She would be fueling a fantasy that she wasn't ready to live.  
  
"Stop the plane Simon. I can't do this." V said suddenly surprising herself. She had been unable to make the decision, so her mouth made it for her when her head couldn't. "I need to be here in Port Charles. It might not have anything more to offer me now then it did when I made the decision to go with you, but I need to stay. They need me here more then you need me."  
  
Simon wasn't surprised when V finally opened up, even though he didn't like what she was saying. From the moment she wanted to rush out of Jax's penthouse, he knew something was wrong, and the limo trip only enforced that. He quietly picked up the plane phone and asked for the pilot to abort the lift off. "What can I do to convince you stay with me V? I'll give you anything you want. I can afford it V. Just name your price, and it's yours for the taking. Just don't get off this plane. We can work this out, or at least come to some kind of compromise."  
  
"Name my price? What do I look like, a call girl? I don't want anything from you. I never did." V couldn't believe he even suggested that, or that he thought so little of her to suggest it. "If that's all you thought I ever wanted, then you never knew me Simon. I'd rather die then to leave with you."  
  
"What am I supposed to think or say right now? I thought I was running away with my dream woman, only to be thwarted at the last second by something I have no control over V. I don't even know why I'm losing you."  
  
"Maybe that is where the problem lies. You think of me as your dream woman, but I don't see you in the same light Simon. You are a very nice man, but I feel nothing more then that towards you." She sighed, not wanting to hurt his feelings, but needing to finally tell him the truth. "There's someone else Simon, someone who isn't like you. He's brooding, sexual, intense." She smiled, remembering that she had told Luke that Simon wasn't like him, and had implied that was what she was looking for. Boy, how wrong could she have been. "You aren't at all what I need Simon, and I can't ever see you the kind of person that I'm looking for as a lifemate. You just don't have what I need to be happy. I'm sorry."  
  
Simon opened his mouth to fight her more, but realized that even when she agreed to go on this adventure with him, she had never been his. "I could make you love me V, come with me and I'll show you that I can be everything to you and more. I just need a chance to prove it to you."  
  
"My answer is still no Simon. If you would stop being a self centered, self serving, moronic bastard for once in your life, you'd know that there is no possible way for you to convince me to stay with you." V turned away from her companion and started gathering her bags. She wanted to make this as quick and painless as possible. It was apparent that things would only get more ugly if she said anything else. Simon watched her pack up her things. She was ready to go when the security cart pulled up no more then five minutes later.  
  
Before leaving V felt she had to at least attempt to smooth things over a little. She did feel bad about leaving the ways she was, and she didn't want Simon thinking badly of her. "Simon please try and understand. I could never be happy with you. I'm truly sorry, but we're better off parting now on friendly terms as opposed to hating one another sometime down the line." She knew Simon was listening to her even if he wasn't looking at her. "You'll thank me for this someday." She finished lamely, before moving for the door that was going to lead her back to her home. She thought that Simon might at least say goodbye to her on the tarmac, but he made no move to join her. She just shrugged and continued on what was turning out to be quite the strange adventure.  
  
A Security guard escorted her down the portable steps and into the small cart that would take her back to the airport and her life. She looked up at the sky, not wanting to watch the plane grow smaller the closer she got to the airport. The stars were shining brighter then ever, and she allowed herself to make a small wish like she did every night from her window when she was a child. She closed her eyes and just hoped that this was the right thing to do, that it wasn't a bigger mistake getting off the plane then it was to get on it in the first place. When she opened her eyes, the whole universe laid in front of her, and as if to prove the point that maybe she was back on the right track, there was a shooter, flying across the sky as a silent sign that it was all going to be all right.  
  
~ End Flashback~  
  
"Come on V, be strong. You can take whatever faces you, just do it," She told herself as she opened the door, walking into Luke's with more confidence then she felt. Looking around, V saw the man in question standing at the back of the bar, talking to one of his patrons, his back to her. Settling onto a corner stool, she ordered a glass of champagne from Claude with a secretive smile and waited to be notice.  
  
As he made his way around the bar, chatting with the regulars, Luke knew something was different. There was a feel to the place that hadn't been there just a few minutes ago, and he chided himself for being paranoid, and over reacting to a new vibe. He continued working his way around the bar, and was almost back to the front of it when he looked up and saw a sight he never thought he'd see again. His Smokey was sitting there nursing a glass of champagne, looking like the cat who swallowed the canary. "Well well, I never thought I'd see you around here again. Did the plane run out of gas on the run way?"  
  
"No, not the plane; me. I decided that maybe looking back wasn't so bad after all, if I had some one waiting for me when I did it." She tried to pick her words carefully, so as not to set herself up for disappointment. "A good friend told me tonight, that if I thought there was someone who could keep me here, that I shouldn't get on the plane because I'd live to regret it. I didn't listen, and got on it anyway. He was right though, I regretted it immediately. So I'm back in town to see if maybe I stand a chance at making it work with this person."  
  
"Lurch would be a fool not to want you V. You're a hell of a woman, and while I might not like the guy, I think he's smarter then I give him credit for." He smiled gently at her, knowing he never had a shot at her, as much he would have liked to think so. She was too young and full of life to fall for an old guy like him.  
  
"Jax was the one who gave me the advice, but he wasn't who it was about. He was taking a shot in the dark when relationships and what it would take to keep me in Port Charles came up." She shrugged her shoulders, loosening them up and took another sip of liquid courage. Maybe she had read him wrong, that he wasn't interested in her at all, at least as no more then a passing flirtation.  
  
"You and Ashton?" He didn't know if she was seeing anyone else, but he knew she spent most of her time with those two buffoons. "He's even worse then ol' Lurch, he's a Quartermaine on top of being a stiff. That's double your trouble darlin', not double your fun."  
  
"No, not Ned either. I'm not even sure if I'll even be going back to work for him, he was pretty angry when I turned in my resignation." She had never thought of Luke Spencer as being dense, but some how he was missing her clues. Or maybe her clues weren't very good ones. She was going to have to try the direct approach.  
  
"He's someone you know actually. This guy made me an offer earlier today, that I refused but that I haven't been able to get it out of my mind. Over the course of the day, I decided I didn't actually want to get rid of it either. I kind of like the place he's taken in my life, and that's what got me off the plane tonight. I'm here to see if he's open to the idea of there being an us, or if he was all talk." There she'd laid it on the line. He could take her up on it or he could shoot her down, but he at least knew.  
  
"You were propositioned by Sonny?" This was too much to believe. His silent partner had stopped by earlier and mentioned that he had seen the red head earlier in the day. It had annoyed Luke to no end, hearing about their kiss, the one Sonny was so giddy about. But he had never mentioned anything about crossing the line between a kiss and a proposition.  
  
"Sonny? Why in the world would you think that I'd get of a plane bound for paradise for Sonny Corinthos?" She stood up, knowing that she wasn't going to get anywhere with him. She had given up everything for a man who apparently couldn't catch a clue if she smacked him upside the head with it. "Tell Claude to add the champagne to my tab. I can see that this isn't going where I want it to go, and I should get my luggage off of your curb and back into my apartment."  
  
"No charge on the champagne Smokey. Consider it your welcome home present." He motioned to Claude to follow her out and make sure she got her things together and into a cab. "Whoever got you off that plane is a lucky man. You'll be very happy I'm sure."  
  
V looked at him, completely flabbergasted. She thought she had laid it on the line, and he still didn't know. "You need to buy a clue Luke Spencer, and catch up with the rest of us. Some average guy off the street corner wasn't going to get me off of that plane tonight. He was going to have to be someone special, who reminded me what it was like to be a woman, and treated me like one. Do I have to spell it out for you? Do I have to tell you that you're who I was thinking about when I made the pilot stop mid taxi and let me off?" She was so mad, that it took her a minute to realize what she had just said, and she blushed, knowing that if she hadn't given herself away before, she had now, and there was no taking it back. It wasn't at all how she had wanted to tell Luke, but how typical of her to blurt something like that out in such an undiplomatic fashion.  
  
She stood there proudly, having spilled her soul onto the counter, waiting for him to say something, and not knowing what to expect. He just stood there looking at her, not sure he had heard her right, or if he had only heard what he wanted to hear. "It's not nice toy with an old man's heart Smokey. Mine had lost so much that it just can't take it anymore. You're going to go home to whoever you were talking about, and I'll be here closing up shop and remembering when I could keep a beautiful young woman like you satisfied."  
  
"Only if you don't have the courage to find out if anything could happen between us. I got off that plane because I liked what you had to offer me Spencer. You were so sure of yourself this afternoon. What's wrong with you, are you all talk no action? Or don't you think that you could handle me?" She couldn't believe she was taunting this man, who just an hour ago, she was ready to pledge her undying love to. But he had a way of getting to her that no one else did. To love him was to hate him at times it seemed.  
  
"I can handle you beautiful, and twenty years ago, I would have loved the challenge of doing it. Ten years ago, I would have still been able to take all that sass and turn it around on you so you were purring like a kitten in my lap. But now I'm old enough to if not be your father, to at least be your extremely older brother. You deserve someone who is at least in the same era as you." He was honored, and tempted. But she deserved someone more then a washed up club owner who couldn't even remember what a midlife crisis was. Who wasn't mourning a life he had already lived and lost.  
  
"I don't want someone younger, and I sure don't think of you as an extremely older brother or father. I want to go upstairs with you now, and make love to you in that big four poster bed of yours that I've heard so much about. Then for an encore, if you're still up to it, we can start working our way through the rest of the apartment." She picked up her purse. "But you apparently don't want that, so I won't be bothering you any more. You know where I am though, when you manage to get past the age difference and whatever other reservations you have and decide to take me seriously."  
  
If she only knew how seriously he was taking her, how could he not? Luke hadn't received a proposition like that in a long time, and he didn't think he wanted to take one up like he wanted to this one. He hadn't realized he was holding his breath, hanging on to every word she said, until he saw her turn away from him. "Wait," He said, hopping over the bar. He tossed Claude the keys to close up with. "Take whatever bags Smokey has outside, and lock them in my office. I'll take care of them later." I gave her one of his slow, sexy smiles. "Seems like you have yourself a deal. I never have been able to resist a challenge, and I have a feeling that's what you're going to be."  
  
"That's when I'm at my very best," She shot back saucily. He was so close now, and he smelled heavenly. His strong wiry body dwarfed hers, which was rare, but enticing. "No backing out right? You're not going to get me up there and take off on me are you? I'm not going to wake up in the morning and find this was all a dream am I?" She asked, unsure of herself not for the first time tonight.  
  
"Not at all, I want to find out everything I can about the goddess of love," he said guiding her towards the back stairway to his private apartment. "You've cast a spell over me, one I can't fight anymore. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't."  
  
"I was the one fighting it Luke. I never realized what was right in front of me all this time. I'm just glad I figured it out before it was to late. Looking back isn't always a bad thing," V stepped through the door leading to the stairs up to his place. "I'm actually kind of glad I did it, against your keen advice."  
  
"So am I darlin', so am I." Luke said, following her up the stairs, wondering where this newest turn would lead him. 


End file.
